Deprived of Mind
by Miss Light Bright
Summary: Sequel to Nuisance Next Door. It's been almost 2 years since Tony had last seen Loki. No one else heard from him; not Thor, not his friends, not his parents... But when Tony heads off for his first year in college, Tony finds Loki in the last place he'd expected and Tony has never been more happy in his life! So why isn't Loki excited to see him? College AU
1. Reunited

Some love stories have happy endings but others have horrible, sad, crash-and-burn type endings. Can you guess which Tony Stark got? Yeah, if you didn't guess the second one, you might have to check yourself into a mental ward right now because seriously… It's been a grand total of almost two fucking years since Tony had last seen Loki Odinson and he was starting to suspect that the kid just up and disappeared off the planet. Tony wanted to hire someone to search for Loki but as it turned out, his father cut him off from his trust fund until he graduated college.

So here Tony was, loading all of his shit into a big trailer with his best friend Rhodey, getting ready to move onto the next big adventure: college. These days, Tony barely thought of Loki anymore or at least, that's what he told himself.

"Is that the last of it?" Rhodey called from the back of the U-Haul, hand on the handle to pull it closed.

"Yeah, that's everything," Tony said, grabbing his duffle and slinging it over his shoulder. He threw a backward glance back at the towering, dark house that he spent his summers and holidays in and felt a wave of satisfaction for leaving the shitty place behind. Half of the time his father wasn't there anyway.

Tony felt a smile tug as his lips as he once again thought of himself as Harry Potter going back to Hogwarts and spending another year figuring out a way to defeat Lord Voldemort. And, as usual, those thoughts brought up fond memories of Loki and how he used to rant about the books to him for hours, telling Tony to read it. Well, Loki would be happy to know that he'd read all seven of them since Loki disappeared.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here!" Rhodey yelled, rounding the trailer to the passenger side of Tony's spanking new car. It was even better than the one he had back in high school with its bright red sleek exterior. It was something that caught the attention of his paparazzi where ever he went, but now it just kind of looked goofy with the U-Haul hooked into the back.

Tony chucked his bag into the back of his car and got in. It was time to make the four hour trek from his mansion just outside of New York City to MIT in Massachusetts. It could be long and boring but God, Tony loved to drive.

"Hey, you'll let me drive part of the way, right?" Rhodey asked just as Tony revved up his engine, listening to the baby purr.

"No way in hell," Tony shot back with a grin. Rhodey rolled his eyes and threw his head back against his seat in defeat. "Now let's get the fuck out of this hell hole."

The drive didn't feel very long, but judging by the way Rhodey had fallen asleep upright, it really must've felt like hours to him. "Rise and shine, ugly," Tony hollered.

Rhodey jolted, accidentally smacking his head against the window, and turned a glare at Tony. "You need to stop doing that," he said, rubbing his head.

Tony laughed, but turned his head back onto the city they were entering. The place looked _ancient_. Every other building looked like it was built out of the Colonial days and maybe they were. Tony didn't mind, really, except for the fact that this was the last place he wanted to go to school.

Their apartment was right down town, apparently, in the classier, more expensive section of the city. "Whoa, Tony. Stop here!" Rhodey said, pointing to a coffee shop, just off the intersection. "I need a little caffeine."

Tony cast an unsure look at the coffee shop and the very little space for parking. "Let's at least park this thing at our apartment first and then come over when I don't have to parallel park a U-Haul."

Rhodey rolled his eyes but relented, just as excited about seeing their new apartment as Tony was. Their apartment wasn't too far away and it was pleasantly located in a tall, elegant building. Tony only wished it was close enough to walk to the coffee shop; it would've been nice to just walk a few blocks to get his morning fix. Tony parked his car at the front and paid the doormen a substantial amount to bring all of their stuff up to the apartment.

"Okay," Tony said to Rhodey when they were finally standing outside their apartment, holding the keys to their brand new place. "Let's see this piece of shit my Dad rented for us." Tony knew in reality that the place was going to be nice, judging how this was a huge building but there was only two apartments on each floor…

"I got the door," Rhodey said. He went to the door and unlocked it, swinging the door open to reveal the nicest fucking apartment Tony had ever seen his eighteen years of life. It was like Howard had made sure that the place was so nice that he would never leave. "Holy shit!"

"Holy shit is right," Tony said, stepping onto the pristine hardwood floor. He didn't even notice as Rhodey raced past him down the hall. Tony was too busy staring at the view from their balcony; it overlooked the expanse of the city and the river and Tony could just imagine what the sunsets would look here. Tony felt his heart constrict. He wished Loki could be here to enjoy it with him.

"I call this room!" Rhodey's voice echoed from down the hall.

The sound of his voice knocked Tony out of his trance and he made his way down the hallway to stop in front of Rhodey's door, looking inside. The room was huge and it was pre-furnished like the rest of the house. Rhodey spotted Tony in the doorway and said, "This room has its own bathroom, a walk-in closet, and its own balcony. A real step up from our dorm room, don't you think?"

Tony smiled. "Yeah, I finally won't have to get stuck smelling your stench in all hours of the day." Tony left the doorway to enter his room on the opposite side of the hall. The room was identical to Rhodey's but the only difference was… "Rhodey, you ass, you gave me the room facing the goddamn slums!"

There was a laugh from down the hall and Tony shook his head, going to the French doors and stepping out into the warm air. There was a road down below, but across the street was an old, crumbling building. The thing really was ugly and Tony now knew that he would probably keep his blinds shut from now on. It was just one hideous building!

Tony turned away and re-entered his room, yelling, "So did you wanna get that coffee or what?"

"No way, man," Rhodey said from his room. "I need to unpack. This room is way too nice just to leave for coffee."

"Well, I'm going to get some. Did you want anything?"

"Yeah, just get me what ever you're having," he replied, opening random drawers in the dresser to see what was inside.

Tony left his U-Haul at the front so the guys could finish unloading. He paid another to take the U-Haul away when he was done. Tony knew that he really shouldn't spend this much on the first day, but his father had finally put some money into his account and he wasn't going to waste that opportunity.

Just as Tony pulled his car onto the road, Tony's phone rang. He immediately grabbed it, pulling it to his ear. "Hey, Pep," he said fondly. "Are you all moved in?"

"Well, I'm definitely not in a fancy apartment like yours, but I am moved in. I think I'm a couple of blocks from you. Oh and Natasha says hi."

"Hi Natasha," Tony said, turning onto the next street, slowing down for the stop light. Natasha and Pepper were both attending MIT and even rooming together. Their other friends like Clint, Steve, and Bucky were going to the University of Massachusetts so they wouldn't have to be so far from each other. Thor and Jane were going to NYU and Tony didn't really care where Thor's other friends went.

"So I was thinking that once you get unpacked, Tony, we could head out as a group and check out the campus," Pepper said.

"Well, I'm getting coffee now, but after that we can go right away. I don't feel like unpacking my stuff right now." Tony pulled into a parking spot right in front of the shop.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty good," Pepper said. "So does this mean that I finally get to meet Rhodey?"

"Without a doubt," Tony said, entering the shop. The bell rang overhead, announcing his arrival. "And I bet he'll be mooning over you just like every other girl he meets."

"Oh please. Not every guy that meets me is in love with me, Tony. That is just the delusion you're stuck in."

Tony laughed just he reached the front counter and he glanced up at the menu, trying to remember what drinks he did like. "Hold that thought, Pep. I've got to order. I'll call you back when I'm done." He pocketed his phone and turned to the kid at the register. "What do you have here that's good?"

"Holy shit, you're Tony Stark," the kid said. His words instantly sent heads turning in Tony's direction.

"Yes, that's me," Tony said impatiently. "Now what's good here?"

"Don't mind Peter," a girl with white blonde hair said, scooting in front of the starry eyed worker. "He just worships the ground you walk on."

"Gwen," he hissed, looking away from Tony to nudge her.

She grinned. "What I would suggest is the Caramel Macchiato. It's a personal favorite of mine."

"Yeah, fine I'll get two of those," Tony said, handing the girl his credit card.

"Two Caramel Macchiatos," she called out. Tony turned to look around the small shop and immediately the patrons looked away, avoiding his gaze. It wasn't a big chain coffee shop like Tony was used to going to in New York. Instead it had kind of a small-town feel. Again, Tony was hit with a sense of wistfulness for Loki.

It sucked! It felt like every little thing reminded him of Loki, driving the knife even farther into his already wounded spirit. You would think after two years some of Tony's feelings would fade… They hadn't though and that was what killed Tony the most. After all, he really did love Loki.

Tony turned away from the shop to watch the workers make his drinks, silently brooding. He focused especially on Peter, enjoying the way his gaze made the kid squirm. "Order 346," a voice rang out.

Tony moved forward to retrieve his order from the hands of the worker next to Peter when he froze, just now realizing that he had heard that voice before. In fact, that voice haunted him in his dreams. He looked up at the worker's face and felt his heart race. Holy fuck, it was Loki.

"Tony," Loki breathed. He looked as shell-shocked as Tony felt. In fact, he almost looked afraid.

Tony frowned, about to answer him when Peter butted in, slinging his arm over Loki's shoulder. "Loki, you're a Tony fan too? This is awesome!"

Loki smiled weakly at his co-worker but immediately returned his gaze on Tony. "Yeah, something like that." Loki held the drinks out a little farther, pressing them into Tony's hands. "Enjoy your drinks, Tony Stark."

Removing himself from Peter's arm, Loki started to turn away, but Tony took a step down the side of the counter to follow him. "Wait, Loki, I need to talk to you."

Loki stopped, looking at him with a pained expression. "I don't get off till three," Loki said, glancing up at the clock over the back wall. It was a little past one.

"Well, I'll come back," Tony said eagerly, gesturing with one coffee in his hand. "I'll come back and we'll talk, okay?"

He looked hesitant but after a moment he nodded. "Okay, Stark."

"Alright," Tony said, backing away to the door. "Promise me you'll be here?" Tony backed into another person and he spun, apologizing to the guy.

When he turned back, there was a small smile on Loki's lips. The smile sent his heart racing and thumping like it was going to beat right out of his chest. "I'll be here," Loki called back.

Tony smiled, raising his cup to Loki before heading out the door. Holy shit, was he dreaming? He honestly couldn't tell anymore.

* * *

Loki lied. Tony showed up at the coffee shop a little after three and there was absolutely no sign of Loki anywhere. "Fuck," Tony hissed to himself, looking angrily around. He'd canceled on Rhodey, Pepper, and Natasha to be here. He didn't even tell them where he was going because he was so excited. He had just shoved Rhodey's drink at him, dragged some boxes into his room and left the apartment almost as quickly as he arrived.

But now, Loki had ditched him.

Tony spotted Gwen and Peter coming from the back room with their aprons folded in their hands, heading for the front doors. "Hey," Tony called to them, stopping them in their tracks. "Do you know where Loki went? He was supposed to meet me."

Gwen looked around the shop as if expecting him to find him there. "Hold on," she said, walking back to the front counter.

Tony was left awkwardly with Peter who was rocking nervously on his feet. "So, you know Loki then?"

"Yeah," Tony said shortly. He was growing impatient.

Thankfully Gwen returned just then, holding out a small notebook. "Looks like he forgot it again," she said, handing it to Tony. "If you hurry, you can catch him at the bus stop one block down to the right."

"Thanks," Tony said, taking the notebook without looking at it. He headed out the door and started pacing quickly in the direction Gwen had pointed out. Halfway down the block was when he got curious about the notebook. He looked down at the page that was already open and read, _Meet Tony at three._ Tony frowned at Loki's elegant scrawl before looking back up at the street.

Only a few more feet in front of him was the bus stop and Loki was there, leaning against the sign. The bus was just pulling in, slowing down right in front of Loki.

"Loki!" Tony yelled.

Loki jumped in surprise and swung to face him. His eyes were wide when he saw Tony. The bus door opened but Loki didn't even seem to notice, watching as Tony approached him at a rapid pace. The bus pulled away as Tony reached him.

"Loki," he breathed, finally standing in front of Loki after all of this time. Tony watched Loki's eyes dart to his notebook and Tony quickly held it out to him. "Gwen told me to give this to you."

"Thanks, Tony," he said. His tone was soft. He took the notebook and glanced down at it and the words on the page before looking back at Tony. "I'm sorry, I forgot…"

"It's okay," Tony said, overflowing with happiness. "Do you want to go somewhere to talk?"

Loki glanced behind him as if expecting someone to be standing there. "I only have a half hour," he told him. "I have to be somewhere."

Tony nodded, just happy to look at Loki's face. "That's fine. I'll take whatever you've got."

"Okay… Follow me."

Tony followed Loki down the street and picked up his pace so he was walking shoulder to shoulder with him. He had so many questions, so many things to say, but right now he was happy just to be with Loki again.

* * *

**Hey, thanks for reading the first chapter of Part 2 to Nuisance Next Door. I hope you aren't too mad about the two year time skip, but I have a lot fo hopes for this story. Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	2. Little Talks

Loki could feel Tony's heavy gaze fixed on him as they walked and it sent a small tremor to his fingers. He banished the feeling away by clutching his notebook a little tighter. He hadn't expected to see Stark here after all these years.

He sucked in a sharp breath and chanced a glance in Tony's direction. Tony met his eyes and smiled that full grin he did when he was genuinely happy. It was good to see Stark this way and Loki didn't want to ruin it. Loki cast Tony a quick smile before looking away, forcing himself to focus on getting to their destination.

Loki didn't want to be this aware of Tony but he couldn't help it. When had Stark gotten so tall? He was just a few inches below Loki now… Was it always like that?

Shaking his head, Loki fought away the thoughts. He couldn't get close to Stark again. His chance for that ended a long time ago.

* * *

Tony wanted to touch Loki's hair. Loki had it cut in the years they had been apart and it just looked so touchable and soft. It wasn't short by any means and it still spilled over his ears, but it was just… shorter.

Tearing his eyes away, Tony focused on where they were heading. Loki led the way down the street and was heading for a small café. Suddenly, overhead, a clap of thunder sounded just as clouds were slowly making their way into the city. Loki stopped abruptly and looked up at it, frowning. Whatever he saw there had him scowling and saying, "You didn't tell Thor, did you?"

Tony mirrored his frown. "Tell him what?"

"That I'm here…"

Ah, that. "No," he said, watching for Loki's reaction. Instantly Loki looked relieved and he nodded, continuing his way into the diner.

Hmmm… Tony wasn't sure what he should make of that. He knew he would tell Thor about Loki being in the city eventually but he wanted to find out what happened to Loki first.

A shower of rain started to race across the sidewalk in little, lulling splashes and Loki and Tony slipped into the diner before it could reach them. Loki didn't even bother waiting to be seated and headed for a booth in the far corner with a window view of the street. Tony smiled; he enjoyed rainy days.

Loki set the notebook face down so Tony couldn't see what was inside and sat gingerly on the edge of the booth seat. Tony scooted in across from him, leaning eagerly against the table. "So, why this place?" Tony asked looking around at the quiet restaurant.

Loki also looked around as if he were just noticing his surroundings and then shrugged. "Seemed as good as any other place."

Tony nodded, not expecting that. He kinda thought that this place would have some significant meaning to Loki. Oh well.

Leaning a little further in, Tony studied Loki and immediately noticed the way that Loki was looking everywhere except at him. "So how are you, Loks?"

At his old nickname, Loki looked up at Tony sharply with an unnamed emotion swimming in his endless green eyes. A second later, Loki looked away again. "It's… fine," Loki said.

"What have you been doing with yourself?" Tony asked. "Where have you been all this time?" Tony's questions were coming more urgently. The euphoria of seeing Loki was being overshadowed by his long-lasting worry and anger.

Finally, Loki looked at him straight, not straying from his face, and said, "Please, just don't tell Thor I'm here, okay?"

Tony was taken back. Loki had not only dodged all of his questions but now was making the focus on Thor. "What about me, Loks?" he asked, his voice coming out strangled. "Do you have _anything _to say to me?"

Loki's eyes flashed with pain and anger. "Fuck you, Stark. You're the one that left!"

"God damn it, I said I would call!" Tony snapped back, slamming his fists onto the table.

The movement made Loki pull back from the table with eyes wide and vulnerable. There was something very wrong here. But instead of asking the questions that burned in his mind, Tony simply let the conversation lull into silence while the two stared at each other.

A waitress suddenly appeared at their table, breaking their staring match. "Hi, is there anything—"

"We're fine, thank you," Loki said coldly.

The waitress looked absolutely terrified under Loki's gaze and she stuttered out, "O-okay." She quickly disappeared after that.

Loki turned his gaze back at Tony, glaring. "Why is it," Tony began, "that you and Thor both think that this is all my fault? I said I would call but I was being detained by Howard, Loki! You have to believe me!"

Loki's expression went from cold to surprise to wistful. "So… you didn't just… stop talking to me?" Loki's words went quieter as he talked as if he were afraid of the answer.

"You think that I abandoned you?" Tony asked.

The hurt on Loki's face was beyond words, making Tony feel like he got punched in the gut. Loki truly and fiercely believed that Tony abandoned him. "Didn't you though?" Loki asked.

"Loki, you're the one that abandoned me."

As soon as he said it, Tony knew it was the wrong thing to say. Loki's eyes went wide and angry and he snatched the notebook off of the table. "Fuck you, Stark," he snapped. He stood and started marching for the exit.

Tony stood and went after him, pushing out the front doors seconds after Loki. The rain was pouring outside and even though Tony was pissed at Loki, he couldn't help but worry that Loki would catch a cold. Loki's hair was already plastered to his head with the rain and Tony could feel the same happening with his own hair.

"Loki, wait!" he hollered through the steady pounding raindrops. Loki wasn't stopping though, so Tony did the only thing he could do and grab Loki's wrist to wrench him to a stop.

Loki stumbled but looked back at Tony with a heated glare. He was clutching his notebook to his chest like a precious gem, shielding it from the rain. "Loki, please," he begged. "Don't disappear on me again."

Emotions flashed across Loki's face as he stood there, caught in Tony's grasp. He looked like a caged animal. "I'm sorry, Tony," he said. "I… I don't love you anymore."

Tony frowned at him, trying to understand. He latched onto Loki's hesitation in his words, holding onto it like a lifeline. "That's not true," Tony said, grabbing Loki's shoulder with his free hand, firmly holding Loki where he could see him. "I don't believe you."

"We barely knew each other back then," Loki hissed. "And you don't know me now."

"Then help me!" Tony's fingers went tight on Loki's skin and he watched Loki wince but not pull away.

The two went silent, staring at each other, breathing hard from their argument and listening to the cold rain rushing over them. Tony couldn't help it. He kissed Loki, smashing his lips to Loki's, trying to make up for lost time. Loki's lips tasted as sweet as he remembered and he felt his emotions grow elated. It took him a second to realize that Loki wasn't kissing him back, but there was a brief few seconds where Loki leaned into the pressure. Then Loki pushed him away, looking scandalized.

Loki pressed his arm to his lips, glaring at Tony, and then looking down at the ground. In a puddle at their feet was Loki's notebook, soaked through. When Loki had dropped it, Tony didn't know. In fact, he had forgotten Loki even had the thing.

Stooping down, Tony grabbed it for Loki and held it out to him. It was wet and then pen on the pages were bleeding down the pages. "No, it's worthless to me now," Loki said, removing his arm from his lips.

"Oh come on, Loks. Don't blame everything on me and just talk to me!" Before Loki could say anything more, Tony grabbed a pen from his pocket and flipped to a partly dry page of Loki's notebook and quickly wrote a message on the page and handed it back to Loki. "Take it, please."

Loki looked at it curiously and after a second, he took it and closed the notebook without looking at Tony's words. "I have to go," Loki said shortly. "I have somewhere to be."

Tony didn't even try to stop Loki. Instead he just watch Loki go, wishing he had said so much more.

* * *

Loki didn't stop walking as fast he could until he reached his usual bus stop and he stopped, leaning against the sign with a sense of despair. His heart was still beating fast from seeing Stark and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the thought that Tony still might love him after all this time! Surely Tony hated him after everything that happened. Or at least, that's what he thought had happened. Loki frowned, squinting out at the torrents of water that flowed along the curb, trying to remember why he thought Tony hated him and he came up with nothing.

He kicked the sign in frustration. Then he remembered the notebook in his hand and he flipped vigorously through the pages, searching for the page Tony had written on. When he found it, he stared.

_I really love you, Loks. Please give me a second chance. –Tony_

His number was written right under the note, starting to smudge from the rain. Loki wanted to cry in relief, in fear, in anger. This was too much.

So when the bus came and Loki got on, Loki ripped the page out, discarding it in the trash can before finding a seat. Guilt wracked him but Loki knew it was for the best. It was better that _he _didn't see what Tony had written.

* * *

Tony didn't even care that he was soaking his car with his wet clothes. He just drove home in silence and confusion. Geez, what did he expect? Of course Loki would be just as pissed as him about what happened in high school. The communication between them was severed a long time ago and who knows what Loki was thinking.

He parked in the parking garage of his building and numbly made his way up the elevator. Tony knew that people had stared at him in the lobby, but he didn't care what they thought; he was still trying to figure Loki out in his head. The situation was just too strange and Loki had been acting so weird. Skittish.

Reaching his apartment, he pushed inside and was met by the loud voices of his three friends in the living room. "Tony!" Pepper greeted, not yet noticing his appearance, jumping off the couch. "We didn't go to campus because it was raining and… and what happened to you?" she asked, just now noticing how soaking wet he was and the way he was dripping over the nice wood floors.

"Loki happened," Tony mumbled, kicking off his shoes and tearing off his socks.

"What do you mean?" Natasha said, immediately jumping off the couch.

Rhodey who had never met Loki but had heard hundreds of stories about him, also came to crowd Tony. "Shit, he's here in the city?"

"Yeah," Tony said. He scrubbed his hands over his eyes and pushed past his friends, heading for the kitchen. They followed him like ducklings as he went to the bar area and checked the cabinet for booze. Good old Howard. There was only one good thing about his father and it was that his father supplied good liquor. Tony took out a bottle of brandy and poured himself half a glass.

"Whoa," Pepper said, snatching the glass out of his hand before he could take a drink. "Remember what happened the last time?"

Yeah, Tony remembered. He passed out on the dining room table at Pepper's house, completely naked. That was something that Pepper or any of their other friends had wanted to see ever. That was last summer when they had last gotten together. "Come on, Pep. I just saw my ex."

Pepper was in the middle of dumping part of his drink into another glance when she looked up sharply at Tony. The others looked just as shocked. "Holy crap," Natasha said. "You never called him that before."

"Well I didn't…" he trailed off, not knowing what he was trying to say.

Pepper leaned over the counter and slid the majority of his drink back to him and said, "Just start from the beginning. Tell us what happened."

* * *

Loki got off the bus at his stop, staring up at his old rickety building with distaste. Over the years Loki had grown to tolerate his new life and he felt content with the familiarity of it all, but now that he'd seen Tony, that illusion had shattered. His life sucked.

He went inside and started up the old stair case, heading for the top floor. The elevator was permanently broken and the land lord was never going to fix it. Everyone knew that.

Remembering the land lord, Loki looked behind his self on the stair case, paranoid. If he could help it, he was staying out of the land lord's way. Loki shivered with the sense that he was being watched and continued on his way, up and up the spirals until he reached the top floor, the tenth. He immediately dragged his sore legs into the hallway that smelt like weed, and headed for his door on the end. Apartment 1039.

Loki unlocked it, pushed inside, and tossed the soaking notebook down on the old, stiff couch at the entrance, kicking off his shoes. His apartment was tiny at best. It had a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a main living area, just as any other apartment, but everything compacted together so that Loki was constantly bumping into things when he moved. The only thing Loki did like was the small little balcony that was connected to the living room. It was the only place Loki felt free.

So that's where Loki went as soon as he was in his apartment door. He pushed out onto the few feet span of his deck and nudged his door shut. Every other apartment had a balcony, so the tenants could choose from either more space or a deck. Loki liked this a lot better.

The warm rain invigorated Loki as he cast his eyes below to watch the pedestrians and cars. It was so peaceful up here where he could see everyone, despite being soaked through to his bones. Then he glanced up at the building opposite to him, studying the apartment that was directly across from him. He could see the door wide open on the balcony. Wow, someone must have moved in.

Loki wondered what extraordinary person could be living there now.

* * *

Tony paced the room, just finishing his story, but not wanting to look at any of his friends. He did though and found them looking as confused as he was. "He said he didn't love you?" Pepper asked. Her expression was in complete shock.

"Yes, that's what he said," Tony said, grimacing.

"I don't believe that for a second," Pepper said firmly. "Did you ever see how he looked at you back in high school? That was love!"

Tony shook his head. "But it's been two years. Things can change," Tony reasoned, trying to convince himself more than them. "Maybe we don't know the type of person Loki is now."

There was silence around the group. They all didn't want to admit it but it could be true. Two years was a long time to pine over someone and just because Tony still did, didn't mean that Loki would automatically feel the same thing.

Tony sighed, hating this telling silence, and turned away from his friends. "I need some time to myself," Tony said. No one disagreed, so Tony threw back the remainder of his drink and headed away from them in the direction of his room.

Upon entering his room, Tony threw himself down on the bed and groaned into it. He didn't want to sleep but he didn't want to move either. But that's when he heard the slight sound of a breeze through something like an open window and he could feel the movement of the air in his room. He looked up. His balcony door was wide open to the world, letting the gushing rain inside.

He groaned unhappily and stood, heading for the door and was ready to close it when something caught his eye. Across the street there was someone standing on their old, rickety balcony looking straight down at the people below. The guy had dark black hair that spilled just past his ears and HOLY CRAP.

Tony stepped out onto his own large balcony into the rain and went to the railing in an instant and stared at the figure. It was Loki. Fucking Loki was living across the street from him.

He was only staring at Loki for a few seconds when Loki finally looked up. Loki was instantly shocked into place, growing completely still with his eyes on Tony. Loki's features were hard to see from this distance, especially through the curtains of raindrops, but Tony was happy enough. This meant that he might see Loki every day.

The thought, the possibilities sent Tony reeling and he couldn't be blamed for the big goofy smile that grew on his lips. Tony raised a hand in greeting and waited. Loki stared back and Tony couldn't read Loki's emotions, but eventually Loki waved too.


	3. Courting Loki

Loki caught himself waving back at Stark like some kind of idiot and he froze, gazing at Tony's balcony as the rain continued to splatter around him. Slowly, he let his arm drop to his side. Tony wanted things to be simple but they weren't. Loki no longer had a place in his sad life for someone as brilliant as Tony Stark. He had already figured out all those years ago that he and Tony were just too different.

Looking away from Stark, he turned into his apartment and closed the sliding door without a backward glance. He shrugged on some dry clothes in his bedroom, then went to his old broken down couch and flopped down, wincing at the way it instantly made his back hurt. For a moment Loki looked around the small living room that was the collection of his life over the years away from that wretched school and his family in Illinois. It was funny but Loki often found himself longing for his hometown, mostly because how much he ached for Tony, Thor, and his friends.

His apartment didn't have a TV, but Loki had his books that scattered and covered most of the surfaces in his apartment. With a little mental urging, Loki forced himself to pick up his book of Shakespeare plays from the coffee table and propped it up in his arm, starting to read.

This book was actually for one of his college classes that he was starting the next day and Loki was so excited about the prospect of school that he was reading his textbooks ahead of time, determined to get high grades like he had in high school. As he read them he even found that he loved Shakespeare. There was something melodious about the way the man wrote.

The minutes ticked by on the clock on the coffee table until suddenly he heard a peculiar loud yell in the hallway. Loki looked up at his door, curious, but went back to reading. Lots of strange things happened in this building.

A loud, slamming knock on Loki's door jolted him and he dropped his book clumsily onto the scratched floor. He sucked in a breath, going pale, as the idea that his land lord would be standing outside his door crossed his mind. But then Loki heard a yell, "Hey does Loki live here? I need help finding him. He's tall, lanky, has black hair, green eyes…"

Loki went to the door and threw it open to reveal a dripping wet Tony Stark standing in his door way. "…always forgetting things," Tony trailed off softly, looking at Loki in surprise.

Taking a step forward, Loki leaned out of the doorway, checked for anyone watching, and then tugged Tony in by his arm. He shut the door firmly behind them and turned to look at Stark with a glare. "For your information, I'm not _always_ forgetting things." Loki mentally reprimanded himself for letting Tony inside without even thinking.

"What? You're not? It just seemed like it, because, you know, you have that notebook and everything for, you know, your thoughts…"

Loki sighed petulantly, rolling his eyes. "I forget things but it's not like this is _50 First Dates_. I will probably remember everything tomorrow. I just forget the occasional detail."

"Like meeting me after work?"

He grit his teeth, glaring more heavily at Tony than ever. Well, Loki didn't forget if he didn't leave his damn notebook behind. "What are you doing here, Stark?"

"Oh, so we're back to Stark now, are we?" Loki just stared. Tony raised his hands and laughed, "Okay, okay, Loks. There's no need to look like I just killed somebody. Look, I saw you waving and I thought it was the go-ahead to come over."

"Stark, even I know that you aren't that dense."

"Come on, Loki. I haven't seen you in years. You can't expect me to _not _stalk you!" Tony cried with wide eyes. "I know deep down that you're just as excited to see me."

Loki's heart fluttered disobediently but he pushed the feeling aside, not letting it show on his face. "No, I'm actually not."

Tony gave him a knowing look that sent heat splashing up the back of Loki's neck. Tony then looked away to look around Loki's apartment, ignoring Loki's last comment. "You know, you should get your land lord to fix the elevator. It was a bitch walking up all those stairs. I'm glad I'm soaked because otherwise I would have massive pit stains right now."

The mention of Loki's land lord caused Loki's muscles to go tense. He ducked his head to hide his face from Tony and turned away to pick up the book he had dropped earlier. Tony scooted into his personal space a second later, peering around Loki to look at the book. "What are you reading, Loks?"

"None of your business," Loki said shortly, snapping the book shut on his book mark and throwing it down on the coffee table.

Tony read the title. "Shakespeare. Hey, I didn't know you liked this stuff."

"It's just one of the many wonders don't know about me," Loki said. He glanced up at Tony who was now smiling goofily at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Here, let me pitch this to you straight," Tony said, holding his hands out at Loki. "You said that we didn't really know each other and that we didn't have time to get to know each other, but here's the deal, Loki. I like you and _I don't care,"_ he emphasized when Loki opened his mouth to speak, "what you say. I like you and always will. So here on out, I plan on courting you properly like a gentlemen. So be prepared, Loks, because you are about to get the best goddamn courtship of your life."

Loki wanted to protest but he couldn't help himself. He smiled and said, "Courting? Really, Tony?"

Tony's eyes instantly lit up. "See? There we go," Tony said. "That's the smile I was waiting for."

Immediately Loki wiped the smile away but the change didn't deter Stark. In fact, Tony didn't give Loki another chance to protest and started to back away to the door. "Prepare yourself, Loki," he reminded him again. "I mean it." Tony turned towards the door and pulled it open, sending a small wave over his shoulder. "Enjoy reading, Loks."

Then Tony was gone and Loki was left standing in shock in his living room. "Great," Loki huffed, none too happy about this new development. He sunk down on his couch and pressed hands over his eyes. Loki resolved to put Tony into place the next time he saw him because this was going too far. Loki would have to put everything to an end before it was too late.

* * *

Tony clomped down step after step, wondering how Loki could do this every day. It felt like the stairs were going on for forever. Thinking about these steps and the state of Loki's apartment, Tony frowned to himself. The way Loki was living… it was simply unacceptable. Anyone that Tony loved would not live like that, not ever. Somehow, someday, Tony would convince Loki to move in with him but right now, he knew that Loki would never agree to it. Instead Tony settled on making grand plans on what he could do to make Loki's life better.

Smiling to himself, watching the steps, Tony almost missed the blatant stare of someone on the staircase. Tony looked up at the gawking man and instantly became uncomfortable. He was standing outside of the hallway for the second floor apartments, staring Tony down as he descended towards him. "Hi," Tony said to the large, bulky man. The guy was bigger than Tony and taller than Loki and there was something in the man's eyes that just spelt trouble.

"You visiting someone?" the guy asked abruptly, narrowing his eyes.

"Ah, just a friend," Tony said. Something told him not to bring up Loki. He didn't know this guy, who knows what he could be up to.

"I'm the land lord of the building," he said, seemingly sensing Tony's suspicions. "I make it my business to see who is wandering my halls."

"Actually, it's a good thing I've run into you," Tony said. "Your elevator's out, you know that?"

The guy stared at him blandly. "It's been out for three years."

Tony smiled slightly despite his distaste for the guy. "Well I have a little donation for you."

That finally got an awful smile from the land lord and he held out a hand. "Well, then, I'm listening. I'm Victor."

Tony took the creepy guy's hand and gave him a good shake sided with his signature grin. "Tony Stark."

* * *

Being as excited as Tony was, Tony practically broke down the door to his apartment as he slammed inside. His friends, who were still sitting around in the kitchen and each holding a glass of liquor, looked up at him worriedly. "Rhodey," Tony barked out. "Get your tools together. We're setting up Jarvis."

"We're going to do this tonight?" Rhodey whined. "We just got here. At least let us enjoy the new place before you start rewiring everything."

"No, it has to be tonight," Tony said, heading into his room to grab his box that held all of his essentials for his A.I. He returned to the common area to drop the box onto the hardwood floor.

Pepper's heals clacked across the floor as she came to stop by Tony, staring down at him as she took a sip of her wine. "Is everything alright, Tony?" she asked, watching him take tons of unidentified electrical pieces out of the box.

"It's skippy, actually," Tony told her. "Fantastic."

"What happened? Where did you go?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Loki happened," he said for the second time that day, but this time with a full genuine smile.

Natasha hopped off of her stool. "I swear you are going to give us all whiplash with all of the mood changes you have gone through today."

"Just start at the beginning," Pepper said, rubbing her forehead.

Tony paused, wiping his hands on his pants before looking up at the three of them. Then he started telling the story with more excitement than he'd felt in a long time.

* * *

Pepper and Natasha had long left and the time was drifting further into the wee hours of the night. He was currently on top of a stool with one of the ceiling panels removed and had a handful of wires as he set up yet another speaker for Jarvis. Tony was jittery and knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at this rate. He needed to keep his hands busy so that he wouldn't think so much.

Rhodey came out of his room, brushing his teeth, and he stared up at Tony, watching his progress. "Did you really need to put one of those things in my room?" Rhodey asked. There wasn't panels in the ceiling like there was in the common area, so Tony had been forced to attach Rhodey's speaker to the wall because Rhodey was whiney and didn't want Tony to tear up his ceiling. Rhodey could be such a party pooper.

"Rhodey, don't act like Jarvis isn't useful because we are not getting into that conversation again," Tony said, pointing a finger at his friend before going back to his wiring.

There was a pause where the only sound was Rhodey's annoyingly loud brushing. Tony stared at his wires, waiting, but then his patience ran out. "Did you still need something?"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing with Loki?" Rhodey asked after popping the toothbrush out of his mouth.

Tony let go of his wires to watch Rhodey cross the room to spit toothpaste into the kitchen sink. "Of course I do. I know Loki like the back of my hand."

Rhodey leaned back against the sink. "Just be careful. You don't know what's happened to this dude over the years, so you don't know him as good as you think you do."

"I'm always careful," Tony said, waving Rhodey's comment aside.

His friend looked unconvinced. "I'm just saying, you don't know what could hurt Loki and if you want to keep him in your life, you'll have to consider his feelings, not just your need to be with him. He's probably changed, so don't take anything for granted."

Tony looked at Rhodey, speechless. "When did you get so wise?"

Rhodey rolled his eyes, giving Tony the middle finger as he walked back towards his room. "Classes start tomorrow, so don't stay up too late."

"Roger that," Tony said, turning back to connect the last of the wires. Rhodey disappeared into his room and Tony was left to mull over Rhodey's words. Tony already knew that there was something different about Loki, but he wasn't just going to hang back passively like Rhodey was suggesting. He planned to sweep Loki off his feet before Loki even knew what hit him.

Tony put the panel back up into the ceiling and hopped off the stool to admire his work. He activated his system with his phone and grinned. "How do you like the new place, Jarvis?"

"It's splendid, sir," the A.I. replied, bringing waves of comfort over Tony. No place was home until Jarvis was installed.

* * *

Across the street, in his tiny apartment, Loki couldn't sleep either but this was for an entirely different reason. Loki laid on his side with his back pressed up against the wall as he stared at his cracked bedroom door. He had awoken when he thought he heard the slightest noise come from his living room and now he was staring at his door in paralyzed fear.

Loki breathed shallowly for a few minutes until he started to convince himself that no one was out there; no one was watching him. He squeezed his eyes shut and brought his blanket up over his chin. The movement didn't make him feel any better.

Loki knew too well that there monsters that came in the night and the worst of monsters didn't let things like locked doors stop them. Regardless, Loki kept locking his door even though it wouldn't stop what was inevitable.

Forcing himself to breathe at a steady and calming pace, Loki finally felt himself start to relax. There was no one out there, not tonight.

But then Loki heard the lock on the front door click.


	4. Being Stalkerish

Loki swung upright in his bed with a gasp; his heart was beating a mile an minute, spurring the panic through his body until his fingers fizzed with wild fear. Loki clutched at his chest, forcing himself to breathe, and then he finally noticed; there was a small ray of sunlight just starting to come through his window, announcing the start of morning.

Breathing in, Loki looked around his room in utter confusion. Wasn't there someone at the door? Was it all a dream?

Turning to his bed side table, Loki reached for his notebook and he flipped through the pages, searching for any sign that something had happened the night before. He even trailed his fingers along the metal spiral, searching for rough edges from torn out pages. He never ripped out a page deliberately, except for yesterday on the bus but that was to protect both himself and Stark.

Loki's fingers stilled on the edge of his notebook and he frowned, lost in thought. He thought back to each step of his day, visualizing what he had done. It was almost impossible to forget anything that Tony had done; every word Tony had said that day was blazed into his mind, refusing to leave. So, Loki mused, he hadn't forgotten anything from yesterday… Did that mean that what he had heard last night was all a dream?

Still buzzing with anxiousness, Loki threw back his covers and crossed his tiny room to the mirror on his old desk. He picked it up shakily and examined himself. There were no bruises, no physical evidence of what could have happened. Loki checked his wrists and moved his limbs, checking for any sore or tender spots. No, there was nothing. Loki grinned at himself in the mirror, suddenly feeling lighter, and quickly made his way out towards the kitchen to make himself some breakfast.

* * *

When Loki reached the lobby of his building, he wrapped his thin fingers around the straps of his backpack and stared at the commotion that was surrounding the elevator. Loki didn't move for a moment but then paced over to Mrs. Benson, his elderly neighbor who often stopped him to gossip. "What's going on?"

The elevator doors were open, but that was all Loki could see that was different about their lobby. Several people from the building were talking excitedly. "Why, they're finally fixing up the old elevator! Said it was gonna be as good as new," Mrs. Benson crooned with a wide smile and happiness twinkling in her eyes.

Loki instantly felt warmth spread through his chest as he looked at his neighbor. This old lady had to walk up ten flights of stairs daily; it was a wonder she even left her apartment.

"Soon, you won't even have to help me up those blasted stairs, my dear," she said, clasping Loki's arm.

Loki smiled. "I guess I won't." He glanced at the elevator again. "Did anyone say why they are fixing it now?"

"I guess we had an anonymous donor," Mrs. Benson said. "Isn't that fantastic?"

Loki nodded his agreement but slipped away when another tenant came to talk to the old lady. He'd never been one for strangers, so there was no reason to start talking to them now. So instead he went out the front doors casting, one last glance back at the lobby, and started on his way to the university, MIT.

"Loki!"

The sound of name sent him to a halt and he swung to the sound's direction in complete surprise. A flashy red car slowed to a halt beside him carrying none other than Tony Stark. Why was he even surprised?

"Hop in!" Tony called, gesturing to the passenger seat.

Loki glanced at the seat but didn't get in. He did step a bit closer to get a better look of Tony's face. Tony was grinning, filling his face with bright warmth that Loki had forgotten about in their years apart. His hair was mussed up into spikes and he wore ridiculous purple shades that clashed with his red shirt. Loki had to admit though that Tony looked good. "This isn't the same car," Loki said, allowing himself to touch the smooth, gleaning surface of the car door.

"No, it's better," Tony said with a grin. "Now get in!"

Loki's eyes flashed to Tony's, pinning him with a glower. "I don't like being bossed around, Stark."

Tony groaned, throwing back his head. "Don't be difficult."

Rolling his eyes, Loki spun on his heal and started walking down the street in the direction of campus. Honestly it would be better for Loki's poor feet to get a ride, but he couldn't be seen with Tony. If Loki wanted to survive in this world, Tony was the last person he would associate with.

"Did you like my present?" Tony asked, following Loki up the side of the street with his car.

Loki looked at him. "What present?"

"Your elevator, it was broken, so I—"

"That was you?" Loki cried, coming to a stop to gape at Tony.

Tony grinned. "Glad you like it."

"No!" Loki hissed back, growing red. "If anything you're courting Mrs. Benson. She's been walking up to the tenth floor for years and she was practically crying with excitement because she won't need help to get to her apartment anymore."

Tony tilted his head, his smile growing fond. "Loki, have you been walking old ladies up the stairs?"

If Loki could turn any more red, he was certainly doing it. "No! Fuck you, Stark," Loki said, looking away. He started to march down the street again, not looking back. The sound of Tony's car faded away and Loki smiled smugly, realizing that Tony must've given up. He ignored the small twinge of disappointment in his chest.

Loki continued on his usual route through this section of the city which was on the way to MIT. He kept walking until he reached his favorite little shop in the whole city, even though he'd never been inside. It was a small pet store, and in the window were tiny kittens falling over each other to peer out the window. Loki stopped in front of it and looked at the little bundles fondly. He'd always wanted a cat, he even asked Frigga for one once upon a time, but he knew that he couldn't take care of one now. Loki didn't have that kind of money. So Loki just settled with looking at the infuriatingly cute kittens through a window.

"Dear Lord, you like cats?"

Loki spun on his heal and was affronted with the sight Tony Stark watching him with a smirk on his face. Loki wanted nothing more than to punch the grin right off of Stark's face. "Did you follow me?" Loki asked angrily. A creeping sensation slithered up Loki's spine, leaving him wary and uncomfortable.

"You should really be more aware of your surroundings, Loks," Tony said. His tone was far from joking, though. Tony was looking at Loki with an expression close to worry but that wasn't the only emotion clouding Tony's face. Loki's heart throbbed painfully.

"Don't follow me around," Loki said shortly, looking for anyone that might have seen.

"Why are you so afraid of being seen with me?" Tony asked, his tone rising with anger.

Loki internally flinched but held a neutral face. "Do you remember the last time I got my picture taken with you?" he reminded him none too kindly. The look on Tony's face instantly smothered Loki in guilt. Stark looked hurt and entirely apologetic and holy hell, Loki's heart began to ache. Loki ignored the urge to clutch at his heart and instead said shortly, "Look, I'm sorry. That was never your fault." He lowered his head to avoid Tony's gaze.

"Loks, I'm not asking you to get your picture taken with me," Tony said. Loki sneaked a peek on Tony's face. He had wiped the pain off his face and replaced it with a small smile. "I just don't want you to avoid me. If there really are paparazzi following me around this city, I'll shield you myself, but so far there hasn't been anyone trailing me. Okay?"

Loki bit his lip. "I'm going to be late for class," Loki said, glancing one last time at the kittens.

"Hey, me too," Tony said, grabbing at Loki's arm.

Upon instinct, Loki yanked his hand away with wide eyes. His heart had sped up again and Loki got the distant feeling of emotional whiplash. "Whoa, Loks, what's wrong?"

Loki looked at Tony and instantly wiped his face clean to hide his fading fear. "Nothing. Let's just get to class."

* * *

Tony watched Loki when he knew he wasn't looking. Loki stared around at the city with faint interest but he was really just lost in his head, going somewhere where Tony couldn't follow. He found himself wondering what was going on in Loki's head, especially after the sheer look of terror on Loki's face when Tony tried to touch him. Loki was hiding something, he was sure of it.

They were walking onto campus and Tony hid a mischievous smile by looking away from Loki in favor of staring at the bountiful trees that surrounded the campus. He had a big surprise for Loki.

"Where's your first class?" Loki asked. Loki's eyes pierced him as if he suspected that Tony was up to something.

Tony smiled and waved his hand in the general direction that they were walking. "Oh just up here. Not too far."

Loki's eyes narrowed but he didn't say a word and kept walking. It was a few minutes but Loki stopped in front of a classroom, saying, "This looks like it's my room." He gestured to the closed door.

"Wow, hey, we have the same class, Loks," Tony said, faking his best surprised voice.

"Tony, this is a janitor's closet," Loki said, rolling his eyes. "Did you purposefully sign up for the same class as me?"

"Maybe?" Tony said cautiously. The frustrated pout on Loki's lips only made Tony grin more.

Loki started walking again. "You don't even like literature, Stark! Why in the world would you take that class with me?"

"I'll have you know that I read all seven Harry Potter books since you last saw me. I am well-read."

Loki stopped and looked at him like he was crazy. "This is Shakespeare. It's hardly the same thing!"

Tony shrugged. "Reading is all the same to me."

Groaning, Loki slapped a hand over his forehead. "Did you at least get the book?"

"I was hoping to share with you."

"Tony!"

"Hey, you can't blame me. I just switched into your class a few hours ago and I didn't think about books."

"Stalker," Loki huffed, leading Tony towards a busy hallway of college students.

Tony laughed. "When it comes to you, Loks, I'll always stalk you. For eternity and into the afterlife!"

"Shut up, Stark," Loki snapped back. His face was flushed red again and Tony celebrated a private victory. He would make it his life goal to embarrass Loki as much as possible.

* * *

The class was boring as hell, Tony found out as he was sitting in next to Loki, drowning in the professor's annoying monotone voice. Tony was more interested in watching Loki scribble down notes at a furious pace.

A moment later, however, Tony looked up at Loki when his hand went still, resting lifelessly on the page. Loki was staring straight ahead, lost in his head again, and suddenly Tony knew why Loki had been taking so many notes. He might forget.

Tony, for the first time in his life, opened his own notebook and started taking notes in the exact style he had observed from Loki's page. It was a struggle to pay attention but Tony kept going, knowing that these notes weren't for him.

Loki didn't so much move until the teacher wrapped up his speech, dismissing the class. The slam of books on tables is what shook Loki out of his trance and he looked around in surprise, watching kids leave. "Crap," Loki said, looking down at his unfinished notes. His face was washed with despair.

"Loks, here," Tony said, passing Loki the notes he took and stood without another word. He didn't want to embarrass Loki. When he glanced back at Loki, he was staring up at him in shock. "Hey, I can take notes now and then. I'm not useless."

Loki blinked once. "Thanks, Stark," Loki said so softly that Tony wanted to hide. Loki's tone was so intimate that Tony was practically writhing in his skin.

"Any time, Loks," Tony said back just as softly.

All at once Loki seemed to remember himself and he slammed his books shut and shoved them into his bag, swinging it onto his shoulder. "See ya, Stark," he said now back to his usual uncaring tone.

"What time do you get off work today?" Tony asked, following Loki to the door but staying behind in the hallway. He was pretty sure his next class was in the opposite direction of Loki's.

"None of your business, Stark," Loki called over his shoulder.

Tony laughed to himself, watching Loki go. Joke's on Loki! Tony already memorized Loki's work schedule.

And that's how Tony Stark realized he really was a full-fledged stalker.

* * *

**Hey, sorry that it took a full week to update! I've been busy finding a job but mostly procrastinating. Anyhow, I'll try to update in the next three days if I don't get too distracted.**


	5. Surprise Guest

"He's watching you," Gwen said, scooting into Loki's space. She reached around him to start up one of the machines for her order. Surreptitiously, Loki glanced up over the coffee makers to find that Stark was indeed staring at him. Loki lowered his head again quickly feeling warmth spread through his cheeks. Gwen looked at him with a slight smile. "Do you want me to beat him up for you? Because I totally will."

Loki shook his head with a smile of his own. "Don't worry about it, Stark's just being an idiot. He said he's stalking me."

"Well at least it wasn't like that other guy," Gwen said. Loki's smile wiped away in an instant and he filled up the cup in front of him slowly. "You know the one who was showing up everywhere? Peter thought he was stalking me but I told him…" She trailed off, catching the distressed look on Loki's face. "Loki, he's not still following you around, is he?"

Slapping on a smile again, Loki shook his head. "No, no, he's not. I'm fine." Gwen was looking at him with the distinct look of worry that she reserved for Loki, so Loki turned away, snapped a cover onto his piping hot drink and slid it onto the counter. "Number 45!" Loki called before turning away, starting in on the next drink. It was a cooler, a blended drink, and Loki loathed making these drinks with a passion.

As Loki went about his work silently, listening to the distant beat of the pop music overhead, Loki periodically glanced up Stark, expecting him to leave. He hadn't though. Tony was still sitting at his little round table patiently while sipping whatever Gwen had made him. He had his laptop open now and focused his full attention on it, which gave Loki the advantage of staring at Stark without being seen.

God, Loki had missed Stark over the time he had been away, just like how he missed Thor and the others. Just the thought of his brother in that moment sent a small jolt through his heart, causing a miserable cloud to settle over Loki's mood. When was the last time he had talked to Thor?

Suddenly there was a loud screech that almost made Loki spill the whole cup that he held in his hand. Looking up, Loki spotted a group of girls crowding Stark in the middle of the shop. Their commotion was turning heads as the girls screamed about Tony Stark and snapping pictures with their phones.

Loki narrowed his eyes and his grip tightened on his cup. Tony had this goofy grin on his face as he looked around at the fawning girls and it blazed Loki through with silent jealousy. He watched as Tony spoke to the girls in soft tones and smiled at their photos, but when Tony pointed over at Loki, Loki ducked down instantly, effectively dumping the piping hot drink over his hand. "Fuck," Loki gasped, dropping the cup. His hand had turned a bright red and the coffee was milling out over the floor in a sticky mess. Loki instantly grabbed a fresh towel to mop up the mess but Gwen grabbed his hand before he could reach the coffee and she took the towel from him. "Go take care of your hand," she said. Her eyes twitched to the loud commotion of the girls and she seemed to understand what had caused Loki's embarrassing blunder. "And if you want to leave early, do it. Pete and I will cover you."

"Hey, I don't want to do all of his side work!" Peter protested from their right.

"Peter, shut it. Go, Loki. I've got it covered."

Loki smiled at her genuinely. "Thanks, Gwen. You're a life saver," he said in a hush. He made to escape into the backroom but Gwen stopped again him by grabbing his wrist.

"Don't forget this again," she said, pushing his notebook into his hands from under the counter.

"Thanks," Loki said simply, taking the notebook into his shaking red hand. Then he slipped away into the back room, just barely catching a glimpse of Tony's confused look and the girls standing eagerly around him.

In the backroom, Loki swept right by the sink and headed for the backdoor, ignoring the tingling pain in his hand. He had to be away from Stark and those girls and their cameras. Loki had stayed anonymous in this city for a long time now. He wasn't going to be on the front pages with just a single picture. Fuck that.

He slammed through the back door and out into the alleyway, heading for the bus stop. If he could just make it home without being seen, everything would be okay and everything would stay as it was. As he walked, Loki's heart thumped hard against his chest, revealing how afraid he really was.

Loki arrived at the bus stop a moment later but he knew he was way too early for the bus to arrive. It would be at least ten minutes before the next bus came but it was a 20 minute walk to his apartment. Loki stared at the sign blankly, trying to decide what was easier, what would get him away faster.

"Loki!" Tony's familiar voice called from somewhere down the block.

Tony's voice spurred Loki forward, without looking back, out onto the crosswalk. He walked quickly, clutching at his notebook. "Loks, hold on," Tony said, this time right behind him. He grabbed a hold of Loki's arm just as they reached the next curb, spinning Loki to face him. "What's going on?" Tony asked with a frown, his fingers digging into Loki's shoulders. The pressure hurt, but Loki held back his flinch as he worriedly looked over Tony's shoulders. Luckily, no one had followed Tony.

"What the hell was that back there?" Loki asked, pushing Tony away.

Tony looked bewildered as he caught himself from almost tumbling off the sidewalk. "What was what?"

"You pointed at me!" Loki yelled at him, waving his notebook in Tony's direction. "What if one of them took a picture of me? Did you tell them who I was? Did you?"

Tony looked at Loki with wide eyes and hands held out as if he were dealing with a small scared animal. It made Loki feel incredibly stupid. "Loki, I didn't—"

"Don't look at me like that," Loki growled, stepping away. But his words only caused Tony to look more worried, more afraid of hurting Loki. "Fuck you, Stark." Loki turned on his heel and marched down the block, heading for his apartment.

Hard steps hit the pavement and Tony appeared at Loki's side instantly. "I didn't tell them who you were!" Tony said angrily, trying to get Loki to look at him. Loki purposefully turned his head away as he continued to march. "I wasn't even pointing at you!"

Loki stopped dead at Tony's words, turning to look at him with narrowed eyes. "Then what the hell was that?"

"I was telling them what I was drinking, but I couldn't remember, so I was pointing it out on the menu behind you…"

Loki's stomach bottomed out beneath him. He was a complete and utter ass and Tony got to witness that in action today. Breathing out shakily, Loki covered his eyes in embarrassment, chuckling humorlessly. "You were pointing at the menu," Loki said slowly, still pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes while his notebook was tucked into the crook of his arm.

"Yes," Tony breathed softly. He wrapped his fingers around Loki's wrists and moved them away from his face. "I told you already, Loks, that I wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt you. You can trust me, okay? And you need to tell me when something is wrong, just like you need to tell me everything that has happened since you disappeared. I can't see you miserable like this, so I need you to let me in! I need to know what I can do to help you!"

Loki wrenched his hands away carefully in order to not drop his notebook and took a step away. "I don't want to talk about it," Loki growled with hard eyes. Flashes of his pain and horrors ripped through Loki's mind, signaling the beginning of another migraine. "Fuck," he hissed, pressing two light fingers to his temple.

"Loki," Tony said worriedly, reaching out to him. His eyes were on Loki's bright red hand.

He jumped away on instinct, reacting more to the pain than to Tony. "Just leave me alone," Loki warned.

Tony took a step forward. "Please, don't shut me out. Come on!"

The combination of Tony's proximity, the pleading in his voice, and the pain of Loki's headache and burnt hand closed in around Loki like a cage and before Loki could even think about it, he was running away from Stark and towards another crosswalk. The familiar panic was rushing through his veins as he ran and he purposefully ignored Tony's yell, "Loki, stop!"

Loki ran out onto the crosswalk blindly and he faintly heard Tony yell again but all of that was lost when Loki suddenly noticed the loud, blaring horn of a truck hurtling right towards him. Time slowed as Loki only had a second to inhale sharply, believing he was going to die; there wasn't even time to scream. But unexpectedly Loki was yanked away from the truck just as the air rushed around him and the metal of the truck brushed inches away from his face.

Time jumped back into regular speed just as Loki fell backwards with someone clutching Loki around his middle, holding him tight and safely away from danger. The two hit the pavement and Loki's savior hit first, taking in the blow in Loki's place. Loki landed hard and limply over the guy, eliciting a huff of pain from him.

Loki rolled off of whoever it was and crouched over the pavement, breathing hard. Tony flew down next to Loki, not touching him but catching Loki's eyes. "Loki, Loki, Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Did you save me?" Loki asked, breathing hard and shaking. He could have died. He could be dead right now.

"No," Tony said, his eyes flicking to the right. "It was…"

Tony didn't need to finish his sentence because Loki was already turning his attention on the person who had saved him from certain death. Loki breathed in sharply, not entirely believing his eyes. This had to be a dream. "Thor?" Loki asked thickly, his throat closing up with multitudes of emotions.

Thor was there, sitting up from the pavement with bleeding red scrapes along his elbows and forearms. He disregarded his own pain in favor of pressing a firm, comforting hand to the back of Loki's neck. "Loki, were you trying to get yourself killed?" Thor scolded, his eyes dancing with haunted fear.

Loki stared at his brother for a moment, not sure if he should believe what he was seeing. He hadn't seen or heard from Thor since he left two years ago. Now hearing Thor's voice and how little he had changed forced Loki to burst into tears. "Thor," Loki cried with his eyes squeezed shut. He said his name like an apology.

Without any hesitation, Thor gathered his younger brother into Thor's signature bear hugs; it was one of those hugs that enveloped Loki so close to his brother that he felt nothing in the world could touch him. Thor rested his chin on Loki's head and Loki glanced at Tony from the gap. Tony was sitting wide-eyed, watching them as people gathered around them. "You were here the whole time?" Thor breathed out, maybe to himself more than to Loki.

"Is everything alright here?" The driver of the truck asked frantically, running up to the three on the ground.

Thor pulled away slightly to address the man. "We are find here, sir," Thor said. "No need to be worried."

"At least let me take you to the hospital," the driver said.

"No need," Thor repeated. He turned his eyes on his brother and Loki looked at Thor, dumbstruck. "Can you walk, Loki?"

Loki stared for a second, tears dripping down his chin, and then nodded. Thor helped him up with Tony's help and the three stared at each other. "Come on," Tony said, looking between the two brothers. "We can go to my place."

Neither of them protested. Loki was too focused on calming his racing heart and Thor was too busy gazing intently at Loki, as if he were afraid Loki would disappear. "Lead the way," Thor said after a moment, finally glancing away from Loki. He did wrap one arm around Loki's shoulders instinctively like a silent comfort, letting his bleeding elbows smear across Loki's clothes. Loki didn't mind though. His brother saved him.

_Thor saved him._

* * *

**Thor's in the story now! Huzzah!**


	6. The Truth Comes Out

Tony unlocked his apartment and pushed inside, holding the door open for Thor, who had his arm around a shell-shocked Loki, leading Loki towards the couch cautiously. Tony carefully closed the door behind them and addressed his ceiling. "Jarvis, is Rhodey here?"

"He is currently attending his final class of the day," Jarvis replied promptly.

"Good," Tony said, glancing back at the two on the couch. Loki looked up vacantly at the sound of Jarvis's voice but his attention was once again drawn by his brother who was whispering soft comforts to him. Loki looked exhausted, completely drained, as if the near-death experience had stolen all of his willpower. Right now, he just looked like someone who needed his big brother.

Thor was a different story entirely. Tony knew that Thor was fiercely protective of his younger brother, and that he'd never really gave up on the hunt for Loki, but the relief and adoration in Thor's eyes was overwhelming. Who knew the two brothers cared so much for each other?

Then something occurred to Tony and he blurted it out before he could stop his self. "Thor, what were you even doing here?"

Thor looked up at him and his eyes mildly flashed with hurt. Loki also looked up in interest, glancing at Tony briefly before turning his attention to Thor, tilting his head. Thor caught the interested look on Loki's face and couldn't resist telling him the truth, "Pepper told me. She called me up and said you were in the city. I went to her dorm immediately and she directed me to the café where she believed you work and while the way, I saw you on the crosswalk and I…" He trailed off, not wanting to finish. Tony didn't blame him; Tony didn't know what he would have done if Loki had gotten hit.

"I'm going to kill her," Loki mumbled half-heartedly.

Thor was looking worriedly at Loki again. "Brother, are you injured anywhere?"

Loki's expression instantly turned to guilt. "I should be asking you that. You're the one bleeding," he said, turning his eyes on the smeared blood down Thor's arms. The blood was also spattered across Loki's white café shirt, but that was the least of their worries at the moment.

"Jarvis, where do we keep the bandages?" Tony asked, turning away from the two. He fingers were tingling with the need to do something.

"Top cabinet of the bathroom, sir. I would also suggest administering a dose of pain reliever in Mr. Loki Odinson's case. He appears to be having the beginnings of a migraine."

Tony looked back at Loki who had looked up in surprise. "How did he know that?" Loki asked.

"I programmed him to detect lots of things," Tony said lightly, brushing by the back of the couch and heading down the hallway. It was only a few steps to the bathroom but as he left he could already hear Thor speaking quietly to Loki. Tony smiled fondly. He was glad that the two finally had one another to lean on.

He reached the bathroom and went to the cabinet and opened it up, revealing various medical supplies. "There is also a First Aid kit beneath the sink, sir," Jarvis reminded. Tony grabbed that first and then stuffed his arms full with the other supplies. He wasn't taking any chances.

Reappearing into the living room, Tony interrupted the brothers' conversation by dumping everything down loudly onto the coffee table. "We have everything you could possibly need," Tony told them.

Thor immediately reached for the cleaning wipes and went about attending to his wounds. "Do you need any help with that, big guy?" Tony asked, watching him smear fresh blood across his arm.

"They're only scrapes. I can handle it."

Tony turned to Loki, grabbing the bottle of pain reliever, uncapping it and held it out to him. Loki looked at the bottle for a second but then reached for it. His fingers brushed Tony's, sending a small jolt of electricity through Tony's fingers. Tony withdrew quickly and stood. "I'll get you some water."

Tony made himself busy by collecting three glasses of water instead of just one. He figured Thor could need some after everything that happened. When he returned, Tony sat down on the coffee table directly across from Loki and passed one glass to Loki, one to Thor, and set his down on a coaster. Loki washed back his pills and then reached past Tony to set his glass nearby. Tony could smell traces of Loki's shampoo as he passed.

When Loki sat back, Tony finally noticing the small scrape edging up the side of Loki's left elbow. It still bled. Tony immediately reached for an alcohol wipe and pressed it to Loki's arm before he could protest. For only a second Loki flinched away but he looked down at the small cut in surprise. "Thanks," Loki said weakly.

Tony continued to clean it, glancing up at Loki briefly. Loki was staring at him intensely with something unreadable dancing in his eyes. Tony was enthralled.

It was only when Thor cleared his throat that Tony realized he had stopped cleaning Loki's scrape and Tony immediately pulled his hands away while Loki looked away quickly. "So how long have you known, Tony?" Thor asked. There was a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Known what?" Tony asked absentmindedly as he opened up a bandage. He pressed the bandage to Loki's arm and let his fingers linger for a second longer.

"Known that he was here, in this city?" Thor explained, watching them.

Tony pulled away from Loki. "Only as long you have, I'm sure. I only found out two days ago."

"You weren't keeping Loki's location from me?"

Tony looked at Thor sharply. "Why would I do that?"

Thor narrowed his eyes. "Because the two of you seem just as comfortable with each other as you had two years ago."

Loki turned a heavy glare on Thor. "I am _not_ comfortable with Stark. He's the last person I would get comfortable with."

"Oh, please," Tony shot back, nudging Loki's leg with his knee. "You keep avoiding me but it is pretty obvious that you are dying to get _comfortable _with me, if you know what I mean."

Loki's face flushed red and Tony smirked triumphantly, happy to get this type of reaction from Loki. "Shut up, Stark," Loki said lamely.

Gesturing to the two of them, Thor said, "You see? This is just as it was in high school."

The look Loki turned on Thor was of complete horror. "No, it is not," Loki protested.

Tony smiled at Thor in amusement who returned the smile. "Well, I'm going to have to agree with Thor on this one, Loks. You and I are always going to—"

"Neither of you should be here!" Loki yelled suddenly, flying to his feet. His eyes were full of a mix of rage and fear. He had the look of a cornered animal, just as he had just before he carelessly ran out into the street. "Neither of you were…" he trailed off as tears appeared along the edges of his eyes, threatening to fall.

Thor stood slowly. "Why can't we be here for you, Loki?" he asked gently, reaching out towards his brother but not touching him. "We didn't abandon you as you must believe. Tony meant to come back for you but you already ran away when he called. Why do you insist on avoiding us when we want nothing more than your well-being?"

Loki looked torn and he glanced at Tony helplessly, then to Thor. "I… I can't tell you."

Thor grabbed Loki's arms, holding him tight. Loki looked so frightened at being held this way that Tony stood, watching the brothers uneasily. "You can tell us," Thor said roughly. "You must. I am your brother and I love you and all you are doing is shutting us out. I swore to you in high school that I would do anything to protect you and that I would no longer live ignorant of your pain. I searched for you for weeks. I spent all of my summers searching places I believed you to be! And now that I find you, you refuse to let me help you! Loki, let me help you!" Thor finished his speech by roughly shaking Loki.

Whether it was Thor's words or Thor's manhandling, Loki instantly broke out into tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't tell Odin. Please don't, Thor."

Thor looked utterly surprised by Loki's words. Tony swooped in and pried Thor's fingers off of Loki's arms. "Let him go," Tony told him softly. Then he turned to Loki. "Thor's right. You aren't the only victim in this situation. You have to tell us what happened and we will help you."

Ugly tears were streaming from Loki's eyes and he shook his head, unable to speak through his heavy breaths. Thor leaned in, this time taking Loki by the scruff of his neck and holding it there comfortingly. "Now tell us why I can't tell Odin where you are."

Loki brushed away his tears forcefully and glanced away. "Because," he said shakily, "he is the one who wouldn't let me come back."

Thor sucked in a sharp breath, casting Tony a worried look. "What do you mean?"

"I found my parents," Loki said, starting to cry again. "But I couldn't do it. I couldn't go in there and disrupt their lives for someone they've already forgotten about, for a broken, useless lost son. They looked so happy in that house. I saw them, I think, through the window. There were others too. Maybe my brothers. I wanted to meet them, I really did, but I would just be a burden. What would meeting me now do to benefit them? I would only cause them more pain and I just…" Loki sniffed and wiped furiously at his tears.

"The only time you cause anyone suffering, brother, is when you disappear," Thor said sadly.

Loki ignored his words. Tony shifted uncomfortably and said, "And after that?"

His green eyes shifted to Tony and he said, "I wandered around aimlessly for a while. I believed that I could still make it on my own but then I ran out of money. I had no other options, so I had to call someone." Loki laughed, tears slipping from his eyes. "It's funny because I was standing in front of the pay phone and I could only remember Odin's number. My damn head injury made me forget everything else. So I was forced to call the person who hates me the most."

Thor paled at the mention of Loki's head injury. He obviously had not expected Loki to still be suffering from it.

Loki continued, "So I called him. He told me I couldn't come back, that no one was coming to get me, that I should get a job. I cried and begged him but he refused. But then he said if I promised never to contact Thor or Frigga again and to stay out of the lime light, that he would pay for any school I want. He bribed me. I wouldn't have taken it but he told me if I did not accept his offer, he would do everything he could to ruin me." Loki slumped down onto the couch, pressing his chin into his hands. "That is why you cannot tell Odin. I can't risk it."

Glancing at Thor, Tony caught Thor's look of pure anger on his face. "So this is all of Father's fault," he said gruffly. "Once again he has forced you to hide your feelings. I will see him incarcerated by the end of the week!"

"No!" Loki cried, looking up at him with wild eyes.

"Loki, this is abuse. Odin has been abusing you for years and I will not stand for it. I will not let him continue to terrorize you!" Thor said.

"But you don't know what he's capable of!" Loki yelled back. "He has friends in high places and you know it!"

Thor opened his mouth to yell back but Tony stepped between them. "Thor, this isn't helping." He turned to Loki. "And we'll find another way to help you, then."

"I will transfer to this school," Thor declared.

"No," Tony and Loki said at the same time.

"Odin knows where I am. He will know if you transfer so suddenly," Loki said.

Tony placed a comforting hand on Thor's shoulder. "I will take care of him, you know I will. He could even come to live here if wants."

"No, I won't," Loki said stubbornly. Tony let that slide for now, but he would convince Loki to move in with him eventually.

Thor tilted his head. "Hold it, brother. You said that you were out of money, stranded in Ohio, and father would not give you money except for school. How is it that you made it to this city? Where do you live?"

An emotion that Tony could only describe as pure fear passed through Loki's eyes but he looked away instantly, bowing his head. "I don't want to talk about it," he said, wiping away the last of his tears.

"Loki," Thor said uneasily.

"No, I'm not talking about it," Loki said angrily. He stood abruptly. "I'm leaving."

Tony caught him by the arm. "Whoa, whoa, there. Hold on a minute, Loks. We get that you don't want to talk about it and we're not going to make you, but right now you're on edge and you've just had a near-death experience, so we're going to need you to stay here tonight where we know you aren't going to do anything stupid."

Loki's eyes flashed. "I'm not helpless, Stark."

"I know you're not. But right now we need you where we can see you so we can feel a little better about this whole friggin' situation. We haven't seen you for two years and you almost died, Loki. Just stay for our sake, please?"

Loki looked at him straight in the eyes and seemed to sense the truth in Tony's words. "Fine." He slipped out of Tony's grasp. "But I get your bed."

Honestly, Tony was completely surprised that Loki needed so little convincing but internally he was bouncing for joy. "Sure, sure, Loks. I should also probably get you guys some extra clothes to wear since you're, you know, covered in blood."

The two nodded in agreement and Tony zipped away to find the largest clothes he had for Thor and something that would somewhat fit Loki's tall but incredibly slim body. In the end, the pair looked ridiculous in his clothes. Thor's shirt and sweat pants were skin tight and he was sure that everything would be stretched out afterwards. Loki's shirt fit just fine but his pants were a few inches above Loki's ankles. What really had Tony laughing, though, was the expression on Loki's face when he realized he was wearing an ACDC shirt.

"Ha ha, Stark, very funny," Loki said, crossing his arms over the front of his shirt.

"You love it, Loks," he teased back.

After that, he left the two brothers alone in his room. Thor claimed he had to discuss a few important things with Loki but when Tony listened at the door, all Thor talked about was mundane things like how school was like in New York, what he and Jane had been up to, what the latest scandal Fandral had gotten himself into.

Tony left to pour himself a drink and to arrange himself a bed on the couch. He watched some crappy reality TV and greeted Rhodey at the door, explaining their situation. But after an hour or so, Tony began to wonder if Thor wanted to sleep on the opposite couch and he went to his room to ask, but when he edged the door open, his question was already answered.

Thor and Loki were both fast asleep facing one another, just a few inches apart. Tony smiled fondly and closed the door again, careful not to disturb them.


	7. Contemplations

Loki woke, almost jumping out of his skin when he felt a hand touching his arm. He laid still for a moment with his eyes pressed firmly shut, waiting to see what the hand would do, but when it did not move, Loki slowly peeked through his lashes at the assailant. As soon as he did, he opened his eyes wide with shock and inhaled sharply. Thor. Thor was here.

Loki's gasp caused Thor to shift slightly and he rolled over, taking his hand with him. Feeling the loss of the contact, Loki pulled his arm to his chest and allowed himself to stare at his brother's sleeping back. His brother was here in… Loki looked around finally realizing that this wasn't his room. Where the hell was he?

In a slight panic, Loki sat straight up, careful not to jostle Thor awake and scanned any surface for his notebook. Ah! There is was. It was sitting in plain sight on the bedside table with the notebook already open to a single sentence.

_Thor saved me._

As soon as Loki read it, a tornado of emotions overtook him, pounding in his chest. He remembered instantly what happened with Thor and Tony and what he had confessed to them last night. The weight of the realization pressed down on him and he was suddenly heavy with fear and despair. What if Thor and Tony, the two Loki cared about more than anything, found out what Loki had done in the years passed? The thought had Loki reeling with shame.

Taking one last glance at Thor, Loki slid off the bed, landing barefooted into the soft, plush carpet. Loki wiggled his toes against the softness and started tiptoeing across the room to the door. Thor had always been a heavy sleeper but Loki wanted to be safe. He didn't like it when his brother was in a grumpy mood; he was much too stupid in that state.

Loki slipped out the door and down the hallway, heading for the kitchen. Perhaps Stark would have some coffee ready and Loki sincerely hoped he would because right now, Loki could kill for a cup. In the living room, Loki headed for the kitchen that was just a few steps away, but he faltered in his steps as he caught sight of Tony still sleeping on the kitchen.

Just one look had Loki's heart thumping painfully. Tony was sprawled across the couch with one leg up over the back of the couch and his left arm dangling off the edge of the cushions, all while his blanket was scrunched up and pooled around his waist. And, like usual, Tony's mouth was hanging open disgustingly and he breathed heavily in an annoying rasping sound. Loki couldn't help it, he had to smile at Tony's ridiculous display. It was absolutely endearing.

Taking slow, measured steps, Loki headed towards Tony's couch and stooped down so that he was eye level with Stark's sleeping form. Loki could smell Tony. He smelled like grease and coffee and also… a little bit of body odor. Smiling to himself, Loki crinkled his nose, trying not to laugh at his internal thoughts.

For a moment more, he allowed himself to watch Tony sleep. Tony looked so vulnerable, so breathtakingly still when he was asleep. When awake, Tony constantly buzzed with energy but here, he was peaceful and… Loki's thoughts broke away when Tony swallowed, breathed in softly and shifted just enough to pull his arm back up by his head.

After a moment, Tony went back to his obnoxious breathing and Loki tucked his knees to his chest as he watched. Then, Loki decided to do something bold. He took one finger and reached over to brush Tony's hair from his face. Loki snatched his fingers away, expecting Tony to wake, but when he didn't, Loki sighed in relief.

He then decided to try again, so he reached across his face to skim his fingers along the line of Tony's jaw, relishing in the feeling of Tony's skin beneath his tingling fingertips. Suddenly the sound of movement shocked Loki into removing his hand and standing up to face the person. Loki turned and instantly recognized who stood before him. This was Rhodey, Tony's best friend from boarding school. Loki had seen the two in the paper.

Rhodey was smiling at him, his eyes flicking from him to Tony and back again. Loki didn't like the way he was smiling at him; it was as if he were insinuating something inappropriate about he and Tony.

After a beat, Rhodey gestured for Loki to follow and he disappeared down the hallway. Loki glared after him but followed nonetheless, curious about what Tony's best friend would have to say about what he had just seen.

They entered his room and Loki stared around. It looked identical to the room that Tony had across the hall. "So, you're the famous Loki," Rhodes said as he closed his bedroom door behind him.

Loki flopped down on Rhodey's bed and glanced back at Tony's roommate. "And you are the famous Rhodey."

"Oh, you know who I am already? Did Tony tell you about me? I bet he said some shitty things about me."

Loki shook his head. "I saw you in the papers with Stark," Loki said. Realizing that he had practically admitted to stalking Tony in the papers, Loki amended, "We get the New York Times at work." That was only because Loki had asked his manager to do so, but he wasn't telling Rhodey that.

"Uh huh," Rhodey nodded, not at all sounding convinced. "Well that really sucks that Tony didn't talk about me. All he ever did was talk about you."

Loki's eyes widened. "He did?"

"Yeah," Rhodey said, looking at Loki oddly. "He used to say stuff like 'Loki would like this game' or 'Loki would hates this movie' and other stuff like that. Everything related back to you. He never shut up. And even though he tried to stop talking about you these last few months and hid his feelings, we all knew. He's never gotten over you. He never will."

His heart flew a million miles a minute and Loki felt as if he had fallen off a cliff. Tony had thought about him, talked about him that much? Loki thought he'd forgotten about him. "But what about the girls? The ones I saw in the news?" he asked weakly. Loki knew he had no right to ask, to pry into Tony's private life, but Loki couldn't help but feel a little wary of those girls. What did they mean?

Rhodey barked out a laugh, surprising Loki with a jolt. "You cannot be serious, Loks. Those girls were meaningless. If you haven't noticed, Tony is crazy about you and you are obviously crazy about him. Why would you even fight that? Why would you even let Tony go?"

"Did you just call me Loks?" Loki asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, I did."

"Don't. Only Tony gets to call me that," Loki said haughtily.

Rhodey laughed again, this time with a light-hearted tone. "Tony was right, you are a feisty little thing."

"He called me little?"

Rhodey continued to laugh. "Yeah, what does he call you? Little Loks?"

Loki's mouth dropped open. "He's been going around talking about me by calling me 'Little Loks'? Is he mad?"

Rhodey shook his head. "I can see why Tony likes you."

A red tint splashed across Loki's face and he looked down at his hands. "Thanks… I guess."

"Look," Rhodey said, sitting down on the bed and swinging on his legs so that he was lounging amongst the pillows at the top of the bed. "Here's the real reason why I pulled into my room to talk. I honestly think that you should just let yourself be with Tony. You obvious like him a lot, so why not just let it happen?" Loki opened his mouth to protest but Rhodey continued before Loki could get a word in. "I know you've got some crap going on, Tony's told me all about that, what happened in high school and how you have mysterious problems that you won't tell anyone about… But are those really stop you from being with Tony? Or are you just lying to yourself?"

"Lying to myself?" Loki repeated angrily. "If certain people found out that Tony and I were together, that I was even near the people of my past, the consequences would be ugly and I don't know if I'm prepared to risk it."

"But what if those certain people don't find out? What if the two of you take slow and stay under the radar? Don't you think if you were really careful, things could work out for you and Tony?"

"They may work out for the time being, Rhodes, but that is only in the short term. What about the long term? What would we do then?"

Rhodey smiled triumphantly. "So there is a long term with Tony?"

Loki glared, realizing the trap Rhodey had just led him into.

"Just think about it, okay? Things will be clear if you just think about it."

Loki didn't say anything but he did follow Rhodey as he led the way out of his room and into the hallway. It appeared that Tony and Thor were still sleeping, but Rhodey let him use the main bathroom for showering since Loki had class at nine. As Loki stood in the hot spray, letting the water drip down his black bangs, he thought about Rhodey's words. Would there ever be a time when it would be safe to be with Tony?

* * *

Loki was just about to leave when Tony appeared right in front of him and slammed the door shut. "Wait for me, I just need to grab my stuff."

"It's not my fault that you overslept, Stark," Loki shot back, trying to reach around him for the doorknob.

"You should have woken me up!" Tony cried.

"Move or we'll both be late. All of my books are back at my apartment and I need to go and retrieve them now if I want to make it in time." Loki tugged at the door but Tony just pushed it back.

"Wait for me, Loks," Tony pleaded.

"No."

"What is all of this fuss about?" Thor asked as he entered the living room, rubbing at his eyes with a yawn.

"We need to get to class, but Loki won't wait for me!" Tony whined.

"Classes?" Thor asked, looking a little too interest. "Can I tag along with you guys to your campus?"

Loki turned his glare onto his brother. "Don't you have your own classes to attend? Surely you must be going since it takes a couple hours to drive to New York."

"Nope," Thor said, shaking his head. "I informed my instructors that I would be out of town this week, so my homework for the time being is already finished. I am free to tag along with the two of you as I please."

Loki groaned but Tony gestured for Thor to come closer. "Hold the door so Loki will not escape and I'll grab my stuff."

Thor immediately switched places with Tony. Loki let go of the doorknob, giving up on leaving without them and leaned back against the wall just in time to watch Tony disappear into the hallway. Thor immediately nudged him with his elbow. "Ow! What was that for?" Loki said, casting a frown in his brother's direction.

"So, brother, what do you think of giving Stark another shot?" Thor asked seriously, despite the twinkle in his eyes.

"Why is everyone asking me that this morning?" Loki murmured to himself. He crossed his arms and decidedly did not answer Thor. Thor just smiled and let Loki be.

Loki glanced at his brother and felt another wave of fondness for his brother. Their relationship had returned almost to what it had been just before he ran away, if not better. And with Stark… well, he didn't know much where things were heading, but it looked like, no matter how much Loki fought it, their relationship was heading back into a romantic one. Loki couldn't even think about what that could mean.

Lost in his thoughts, he jumped in surprise when he realized that Tony had just appeared in front of him. "Ready to go?" Tony asked with a smile.

Loki was mesmerized by Tony's smile and was ultimately too shocked to even move. Blinking a few times, Loki finally looked away and glanced at Thor who was grinning and generally looking too pleased by the reddening of Loki's face.

"Did I miss something here?" Tony asked, still with that blasted smile.

Loki avoided Tony's gaze while Thor said, "It will become clear in time, my friend."

Tony frowned in confusion but shrugged. "Okay, Thor, whatever you say."

"Come on," Loki said, shoving Thor out of the way and opening the door, "If we keep delaying, I'll never make it to class.

Thor was the first to exit the apartment and Tony brushed past him, saying, "Don't worry, Shakespeare, we'll take my car."

"What did you just call me?" Loki asked in horror, following him out and closing the door behind him. They didn't lock the door since Rhodey would be leaving for a class in an hour.

Tony laughed but just kept following Thor. "You heard me, Loks."

"Don't call me that," Loki said, catching up to him. "One nickname is enough, thank you."

"You mean that you like when I call you 'Loks'?"

"Well it's certainly better than Shakespeare," Loki mumbled, trying not to look at Stark.

Tony laughed and mussed Loki's hair. "Whatever you say, _Loks_," he said before turning back down the hallway. Loki looked down as he walked, fuming silently.

Fine, he liked the nickname Tony had originally given him and yes, he didn't want Tony to change it, but that didn't mean that Tony should get any ideas. Loki looked up at the back of Tony's head and sighed internally. Why was he even fooling himself? He liked Stark and that wasn't going to change. Why not just… let himself be happy?

* * *

**I'm sorry that this update took longer. I've actually had a life recently, which is dangerous because start neglecting things like this. I should be back on track though now.**


	8. Under Influence

Loki spent the week silently watching Stark under the guise of hanging out with his brother. Often times, Loki caught Tony watching him back with this strange soft look in his eyes, and half the time, Stark didn't even realize Loki's eyes were on his, as if he were lost in some fantasy world inside his head. Loki wondered what he could possibly be thinking of and he spent the better part of his week puzzling over it.

The week was spent entirely at Tony's place since Loki refused to house his brother in his cramped apartment. Loki and Thor continued to sleep together on Tony's bed while Tony stayed on his perch on the couch. Most mornings Loki again found himself staring at Tony's sleeping face.

Because of this whole situation, Loki had not been back to his apartment except to get clothes and his books. This realization both relieved him and put him on edge. His absence would soon be noticed by unfavorable people.

Today was his last day together with Thor, since Thor had to be getting back to New York the next day, and the realization that Thor wouldn't be within arm's reach at night scared him; he'd grown used to Thor's constant presence.

So as Loki stood leaning against Tony's bar, he watched unhappily as Thor talked quietly to Tony before his departure and Loki sulked over a glass of brandy. Loki had never been one for alcohol but in this occasion, Loki had deemed it necessary. As he was sipping his second glass of the foul drink, Loki heard the whispering of his name and Loki's eyes snapped up. "I can hear you, you know," Loki called to them.

Tony barely glanced at him. "Only good things, Loks."

Loki hid his smile into his drink. They wrapped up whatever they were saying about him and Thor turned to Loki with a hopeless expression on his face, as if he didn't know what to do with himself. Loki put his glass down, rolling his eyes. "Oh, come on you big oaf," Loki said, holding out his arms.

Thor looked he was going to cry as he launched himself into his younger brother's arms, effectively squashing Loki in his tight hold. "I don't want to leave you here alone," Thor said quietly, near Loki's ear.

"I won't be alone," Loki said just as softly. "I have Stark." Loki's eyes flickered over to Tony who looked utterly surprised at Loki's admittance. Loki closed his eyes for a second to block out Tony's hopeful look. "Besides, you'll come to visit me, yes?"

Thor pulled away and held Loki out at arm's length with a serious expression on his face. "Of course! Next time I will bring Jane so you can properly get to know her."

Loki smiled weakly, wondering how he had gone to avoiding everyone, to now staying over at Tony's house and agreeing to meet his brother's girlfriend. Surely it would be a matter of time before Odin found out what was happening here in Massachusetts. "Sounds good, Thor."

Nodding, Thor let go of Loki and stepped back. "Well, friends, I must be going. I've spent too much time away from Jane."

"And from your studies," Loki reminded. Thor pulled a face at that, causing Loki to laugh.

"See you around, Thor," Tony said, following Thor to the door. Loki stayed where he was and picked up his drink again and tossed it all back when neither were looking. The drink burned all the way down.

"Goodbye!" Thor declared one last time, looking like he'd rather not want to leave.

Loki raised his newly filled glass at Thor. "I'll see you, brother."

Thor smiled and left, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door shut, Loki and Tony were plunged into a thick, tense silence that saturated the whole room. Loki threw back some more brandy, happy when he felt the beginnings of a buzz tingle through his veins.

Finally, Tony looked up and pierced Loki with his unwavering gaze. "So, it's just you and me," Tony said, stating what they were both thinking. This whole week, they had been comfortable around each other only because they had Thor or Rhodey with them the entire time. But right now, there was no one to chaperone them on this quiet Sunday evening.

"So it appears," Loki laughed, downing his third glass of brandy.

Tony's eyes went wide. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Loks. How much have you had to drink?" he asked, quickly coming to Loki's side to inspect the bottle as Loki attempted to pour more into his glass. A little bit ran over, splashing over the counter.

"Three glasses," Loki laughed, holding up two wriggling fingers. He immediately took a long drink from his fourth glass.

Tony immediately snatched the glass away, half way between worry and amusement. "Geez, that's like 7 or 8 shots!"

"I don't feel a thing," Loki slurred out. That wasn't right, was it? His voice wasn't cooperating with him.

"You might not feel something right now, but you will in a few minutes," Tony scolded, drinking the rest of Loki's drink himself and then discarding the glass into the sink. He snatched away the bottle before Loki's fingers closed around it and locked it away as well. Loki pouted at him and Tony laughed, saying, "See this is how I know you've had too much." He gestured to Loki's pouting face.

"I wanted to keep drinking," Loki whined. Suddenly his words struck him as funny and he started laughing like it was hilarious.

Tony ruffled Loki's hair. "Loks, I know you. You don't drink often, you're a light weight, and soon you'll be far too gone to even walk straight."

Loki frowned at him, indignant. "I can walk straight, Stark," he spat at him. He pushed himself off the support of the bar counter and aimed his feet in the direction of the hallway. Immediately Loki found that his feet would not cooperate with him. He staggered as the world went sideways and Tony threw an arm around his waist to prevent him from falling to the floor altogether.

"See what I mean?" Tony gloated.

"Whatever," Loki huffed. "Just lead me to your chambers, lowly peasant."

Tony's nose scrunched up with a disbelieving laugh. "Alright, your highness. Perhaps I should even carry you princess style?"

"Don't even think about it," Loki glared. But he ended up laughing and pressing his forehead to Tony's shoulder as he staggered once again.

"How did you get drunk so fast?" Tony muttered. Without any warning, Tony tucked his arms beneath Loki's legs and hoisted him up into the bridal hold.

Loki gasped angrily. "Drop me this instant."

"Okay, as you wish, your highness," Tony said. He dropped Loki and Loki cried out in surprise, but then Loki hit the soft cushions of the couch. "Did you want to sleep there or did you want to sleep in my bed? Because you want my bed, you're going to have to deal with me carrying you."

Loki slung his arm over his forehead dramatically. "If carrying me is the only way, then I grudgingly allow it," Loki sighed.

Tony rolled his eyes but scooped Loki up, cradling Loki's smaller frame to his chest. Loki breathed in deeply, relishing in the scent that was purely Tony, and he barely noticed that Tony had quickly transferred them from the living room to his bedroom. It was only when Tony dumped him unceremoniously into the bed, that Loki was knocked into his distorted senses.

Loki felt Tony start to pull away but Loki shot up and caught his arm, blinking blearily up at Tony. "Stay with me tonight?"

Blinking in surprise, Tony said, "But I'll be just down the hall. Are you sure you—?"

"Yes," Loki said quickly, still holding onto Tony. "I need you here."

Tony looked as if he were at a loss, and after a second of deliberation, he immediately climbed over Loki into the opposite side of the bed, wiggling under the covers and throwing the blankets over Loki's shoulders gently. Loki sighed in relief, allowing himself to settle against the pillow.

After a moment of silence, Tony chuckled. "It's barely nine."

"I'm not tired either," Loki said, even though his eyes were heavy from the alcohol. Suddenly getting a brilliant idea, Loki sat straight up, looked down at Tony with bright eyes, and immediately started to strip off his shirt.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Tony yelled in surprise, sitting up in an instant to stop Loki from throwing his shirt off. He tugged the shirt back down over Loki's shoulders and held his hands there, near Loki's waist.

"I want to do things to you," Loki slurred, leaning in as if to kiss him.

Tony leaned back. "Loki, you're drunk. You should sleep."

No, he didn't want to. Loki had other things on his mind, and he would not stop until he had it. Loki moved and slung a leg over Tony's middle so that he was straddling Tony in a deliciously provocative position. Leaning in, Loki moved into towards Tony's ear and whispered, "I want you."

Tony started in surprise, pushing Loki back by the shoulders with wide, unhappy eyes. That wasn't how Loki wanted him to look at all. "Loki, this isn't right. I'm not going to take advantage of you."

Loki sat back, taking his hands away from Stark, and looked at him in confusion and sorrow. "So you don't want me?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Tony said, desperately trying to correct Loki.

"No one would ever want me," Loki said sadly, looking down at his hands. "Only _him._ Only evil people like him."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Who? Who are you talking about?" Loki looked at Tony, his eyes filling with tears. Tony immediately switched his approach. "I will always want you, Loks," Tony said softly, reaching up and stroking Loki's hair. "Always."

"You promise?" Loki said, looking up at him, no longer feeling the urge to cry. Instead his chest was being crushed with the tight feeling of joy.

"Promise," Tony said softly, rolling Loki off of him and laying him back gently into his pillow. He continued to stroke Loki's hair.

Loki sighed, closing his eyes. "Maybe I should sleep."

"Yes, I think so too."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"It does."

"Yeah it does."

"Just go to sleep, Loks."

"Tony?"

Tony laughed a short laugh. "Yes, Loki?"

"I really love you."

Silence.

That is when Loki supposed that he had finally fallen asleep.

* * *

Those four words paralyzed Tony into place as Loki drifted off into drunken sleep. Loki had said the words he had never heard in high school and thought he wouldn't hear for a long time. Tony's mind immediately raced with questions and possibilities. He had once heard that people were more honest when they were drunk. Was that true? Was Loki really telling him that he loved Tony?

Tony stared at Loki's sleeping face, not able to look away. Loki's face was flushed red from the alcohol and his hair was splayed messily across his face. Tony leaned across the bed and pushed the hair away until it was clear and then left his hand pressed against Loki's smooth cheek.

And what about what Loki had said just before that? Who was this person that Loki had been talking about? What had he done to his Loki? Tony's insides boiled with hatred and the urge to murder anyone that had touched Loki in any wrong way.

Tony breathed out his frustrations and instead decided to focus on Loki and the fact that he was here, in his bed. Tony scooted across the bed, pressed himself to Loki, wrapped his right arm over the top of Loki's middle and rested his chin on top of Loki's head. No matter what had happened in the past would stay in the past, Tony decided. From here on out, he would protect Loki at any cost and he would make sure that Loki would never disappear from his sight again.

Tony pressed his lips to Loki's forehead and closed his eyes, imagining all of the things he would do for Loki in the future. He would have to step up his efforts in wooing Loki, at least that much was clear. If Loki could confess that he loved Tony in his drunken stupor, then Tony was determined to make him say it sober. It was his number one goal for life now. He cared about nothing else.

"I love you, too," Tony whispered to Loki, squeezing him tighter still. "I promise that I always will."


	9. A Hot Mess

Loki woke to find the opposite side of Stark's bed completely empty. The covers were strewn across the mattress like Tony had fought his way out of bed. Loki wanted to laugh at the thought but he was too busy pressing his fingers to his pounding temples. He deserved the headache he supposed since he had drunk shots so irresponsibly last night.

He sighed and was about to roll over when something small landed on his stomach, causing Loki spring upwards in surprise. Loki gasped with wide eyes as he stared at a little cat that stood unperturbed now on Loki's legs. It was a gray tabby and it looked suspiciously like the one Loki looked at every day at the pet store.

"Surprise!" Tony said, suddenly standing next to Loki with a big grin on his face.

"Why is there a cat on me?" Loki asked, watching as the cat turned and pressed its little paws into his stomach. Loki started to melt when the cat looked up at him with big brown eyes.

"It's your cat," Tony said proudly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers along the cat's fur. "It's a boy, two years old, and all yours. What are you going to name him?"

Loki looked at Tony sharply. "I can't have a cat! I can't afford it and my landlord definitely does not allow anyone to have animals."

"So you'll keep him here! That way you have an excuse to come over and see me," Tony said. His grin was unwavering and there was a look in his eye that made Loki very uneasy.

Loki was about to argue but then the cat rubbed against Loki's arm, mewing softly. Loki glared at him fondly. "Curse you, cat, for being so cute." Tony laughed as Loki took the cat into his arms, already taken with him. "What shall I name you?"

"Do not name him after me," Tony said, wagging a finger at Loki. "I know you were thinking about it."

He rolled his eyes at Tony. "As if I would let your ego inflate any more than it already is." Loki smiled, looking back to the cat. "He should have a good name though."

"How about Sprinkles. He looks like a Sprinkles."

"I'm not naming a cat after food, Tony!"

"But he likes that name! Look at him, he's purring!"

* * *

Loki cradled Sprinkles in his arms as he watched Tony frantically search the closet for a jacket. It was chillier out today than normal. Loki didn't have his jacket though, since he hadn't back to his apartment in ages. "We're already late. There's no need to rush," Loki said, scratching Sprinkles' ears. Tony had let Loki sleep way too long, claiming that Loki needed sleep to get over his hang over (which was true) but he hadn't thought about how pissed off Loki would be once they missed the first 15 minutes of class.

Tapping his foot, Loki watched Tony continue to root through his walk-in closet. He chucked one jacket onto the bed and kept looking. "That's for you," he said, casting a quick glance at Loki.

Loki was already wearing an outfit entirely from Tony's closet, so what was one more? He gently put his cat down, threw on his jacket, and then swung his backpack over his shoulder. Tony was ready a moment later. "Ready to go, Loks?"

"Have been for a half hour!"

Tony rolled his eyes and led the way out of his room. Sprinkles followed right behind them, meowing obnoxiously all the way to the front door.

Reluctantly, Loki had leave the cat behind and they headed down into the parking structure to Tony's car. Loki watched Tony all the way, silently observing. "Tony," he said softly, just wanting Tony to look at him.

"What?" Tony looked at Loki with such warm and loving eyes that Loki was frozen under his gaze. What had he ever done to deserve someone such as him? "Hey, Loks, are you okay?" Tony asked, coming to a stop. He reached up and pressed a warm hand to Loki's forehead, feeling for a temperature. "You're warm. Are you feeling alright?"

Loki's heart and he felt breathless. There was nothing more Loki wanted to do in that moment than to kiss him, to feel Tony on his lips. "No, I'm fine. Let's go."

* * *

In the car, Tony drove into the parking lot with a rev of his engine. He glanced at Loki for what felt like the zillionth time since they had left his apartment, but that was because there was something different about Loki today. Every time he looked over at Loks, he was always staring back, scrutinizing him. Tony forced his eyes away from Loki to focus on the road.

That's when it happened.

A figure ran out into the parking lot, right into the path of Tony's car. Instantly, Tony's heartbeat sped and he gasped in horror. Beside him, Loki slammed his hands down on the dashboard with a cry of his own. "Tony!" Loki yelled.

Tony slammed on his breaks hard. The tires screeched, scraping and sliding across the dark pavement, sending the car into a harsh, shuddering stop. The momentum of the stop threw both of them forward and the seat belt stiffened, crashing hard into Tony's chest. It felt like a knife had twisted itself into his flesh and raked down into his belly.

The car came to a full stop and the boys were again thrown backward into their seats. Tony breathed hard but whipped his head in Loki's direction in complete terror. "Loks!" he yelled. Loki with breathing just as hard, maybe even more so, and he was scrambling to get his seatbelt off. There was sure to be a bruise where the seat belt had dug in.

"I'm fine," Loki said shakily. He turned his head in Tony's direction and Tony inhaled sharply.

"Loki, you're bleeding!"

"What?" Loki asked, frowning at him. There was a small cut on Loki's brow and a small trickle of blood was threatening to drop over his right eye. Loki pressed his fingers to it and it smeared all over his forehead.

Tony was shaking. "Fuck, Loks."

"I'm okay, really," Loki said with a smile, but his voice still shook.

"No, you're not," Tony gritted out. His blood was boiling with frustration and belated fear. If anything worse had happened… This was the second time Loki had almost died since Tony had found him again.

Pushing away his thoughts, Tony threw off his seatbelt and shoved open his door. His eyes fell on the guy who was still in the middle of the street. "What the hell is your problem, man?"

"Tony, don't," Loki said as he still struggled with his seatbelt.

"Did you see what just happened?" Tony asked harshly. Suddenly, Tony finally looked right at the guy. He was holding a fucking camera. "Wait…"

"I just wanted to interview you, Mr. Stark, sir!"

Tony was speechless. There was a wave of chatter and Tony was forced to look at the pathway along the parking lot. On the concrete stood dozens of reporters, cameras flashing suddenly as if the reporters have just recovered from the shock of the near accident.

"He could have died, for this," Tony whispered, feeling sick to his stomach.

"Who could have died, Mr. Stark?" the guy asked, turning his camera at Tony's face.

Tony wanted to kill the bastard, tell them to all fuck off, but he recognized the symbols on the cameras, on the microphones. These media people wouldn't hesitate to report whatever the fuck they wanted. "Tony Stark!" One woman called out. Tony was numb to her call. Instead, he slowly turned his gaze unto Loki.

Loki had stopped pulling on his seat belt but he was staring with wide eyes of a trapped animal at the people that swarmed the front of the car. The reporters had not yet noticed Loki but Tony didn't know what to do. If he got back in the car, they would notice him. If he walked away, Loki would be abandoned.

Suddenly, Loki moved. No! What the hell was he thinking? His seatbelt slipped off, this time in one fluid motion, and Loki reached for the door handle. Tony couldn't breathe. The door clicked just slightly as Loki opened it a crack.

The attention of the reporters halted and they all turned to stare at Loki, who was getting out of the car with a blood-smeared face; there was blood even dripping onto his cheek. "Loks," Tony warned.

The talking started all at once, loud and undiscernible. Dozens of flashes came all directions as they documented Loki's appearance from the car. Loki didn't even seem to notice it, he was too busy looking at Tony with a pleading expression on his face.

Tony shoved a reporter out of the way and went to Loki's side at once, trying to cover Loki from view. The shouting grew louder. "Who is he?" "Is this your friend, Mr. Stark?" _"Is this the boy you were caught kissing two years ago, Stark?"_

At that last question, the talking became shouting, almost unbearable. "Loks, let's get out of here," Tony said to Loki, pulling on his arm.

Loki stumbled a bit, but did not move away from the car with him. There was a strange look in his eyes that Tony could only describe as distress. "Loki," he said again, tugging lightly.

"What's your name?" a reporter cried out over all the others.

"Loki Odinson."

A hush went over the group and Tony looked at Loki in surprise. That was the last thing he had expected Loki to do but what was especially surprising was the way Loki looked just briefly at Tony with the slightest hint of determination beyond the fear.

With the crowd quiet now, a woman stepped forward, almost looking apologetic. "Loki, are you the boy Tony kissed?"

Loki glanced at Tony again and Tony felt his heart stutter. What would Loki do?

"Yes, I am."

The lady opened her mouth to ask another question but before she could, Loki moved lightning fast, grabbing onto the middle of Tony's shirt and yanked him harshly forward, crashing their lips together painfully. Tony's teeth collided with Loki's bottom lip, but that didn't stop him. Loki pressed his lips together with Tony's like they were air. For a moment, Tony was pulled away to somewhere far away, only feeling Loki against him, breathing in his scent; it was just too surreal.

Loki pulled away just a centimeter and Tony opened his eyes. He didn't even know when he had closed them. "I'm tired of running away," Loki breathed against him.

All at once the crowd burst into yelling again and the flashes continued. Tony wondered if they had gotten a picture of them kissing; he hadn't noticed since he'd been a little busy after all.

Pulling away slightly, Loki turned to look at the reporters with a smug expression, even though he was still hanging onto to Tony's shirt with a heavy grip. "That will conclude today's interview."

Loki tugged on Tony's shirt, turning to leave but a reporter stopped him, standing in Loki's way. "Wait! So, are you two together?"

Loki stilled, letting his grip loosen on Tony, and he smiled. It was a beautiful smile that Loki immediately turned onto Tony and suddenly he felt like the luckiest guy in the world. "Yeah. I love him."

The crowd went wild but before they could do anything else, Loki was pulling Tony away from the reporters, and Tony's car, to head into the nearest school building. Inside, Loki started into a run, letting go of Tony's shirt, forcing Tony to run after him, scared of what Loki could be thinking.

There were footsteps behind them but they were farther behind. He and Loki could lose them if they were smart about it. Apparently Loki was reading his mind though, because after they skidded around a corner, Loki yanked open a door, shoved Tony inside, and closed it carefully behind them. Moments later, footsteps were heard racing by.

They were both breathing heavy and staring at the door, but Tony turned to Loki, concerned. "Loki, you okay?" he asked.

Loki didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed Tony's shirt and pulled Tony into another more desperate kiss. Tony moved his lips Loki's, elated, but after a second he pulled away from Loki and laughed softly. "You're going to stretch out this shirt."

"Shut up and kiss me," Loki said, glaring at him.

Tony did and it was rough and sloppy but it was fantastic. This was Loki right here, right now, asking him to kiss the crap out of him and it was friggin' fantastic! Tony laughed into Loki's lips while he wrapped his arms around Loki's waist.

Loki sighed and pulled away, glaring. "What's so funny, Stark?"

He grinned. "This is a strange way to say you love me, Loks."

"Shut up," Loki said with a pout. "Let's just make out, okay?"

He didn't have to ask Tony twice. He pressed himself into Loki and caught him into another deep, passionate kiss. His body moved on his own and he guided Loki up against a wall, pressing him hard there, trapping Loki with his hips. They were in a supply closet, Tony realized vaguely.

Loki unfurled his fingers from the middle of Tony's shirt, trailed them down Tony's chest until Tony was breathless and then tugged it upwards to feel Tony's stomach. Tony groaned and pulled partially out of the kiss. "We have class, you know," Tony said.

"I don't care," Loki breathed back, kissing Tony again.

"And you're bleeding," Tony said, pulling away again. He didn't even know why he was even trying to stop Loki.

"Would you shut up? You'll kill the moment."

Tony laughed, relenting, and tugged off his shirt with Loki's help. Soon they were undressing and it felt insane and crazy, but the feverish look in Loki's eye kept him moving.

Their first time was in a closet. Who would have guessed?

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to that Guest who reviewed today, telling me to get my butt in gear. Sorry guys, I've been so lazy! Don't be afraid to yell at me when I don't update for a few days. Thanks!**


	10. A Plus Parenting

It was not an hour later when both of their phones started ringing. They were sitting side-by-side on the floor of the supply closet, with their clothes back on, talking quietly when they had to struggle their phones from their pocket. Loki stared his screen, his heart thumping uncomfortably as it always did when he spotted Odin's name in his phone.

"Holy shit, you have Odin's calling you?" Tony asked, glancing over his shoulder. "I fucking hate that guy."

Loki glanced briefly at Tony phone. "Your dad? You gonna answer him?"

"Are you?" Tony asked, staring down at the vibrating, glowing screen of his phone.

"Fuck Odin," Loki said and he quickly answered the phone before he could change his mind. "Hello?" Beside him, Tony followed his lead and answered his own father, so Loki pressed his hand to his left ear to hear Odin.

"Are you stupid?" Odin bellows into the phone. "I told you to disappear you dumb, irresponsible child!"

Loki breathed in sharply, biting his lip, trying to be brave. When he had stood there, in front of all of those reporters, he just kind of snapped. He was tired of being the victim, of letting things happen to him. He hated himself for not meeting his real parents. He hated how much he's been abused and pushed around in his life! "I'm done," Loki snapped.

"What did you just say to me?" Odin barked. "I can take away everything you have, everything you are, make you miserable."

"And I can tell everyone what you have done."

"Don't fuck with me, boy!" Odin growled. "It won't be just you I'm willing to hurt."

Loki inhaled sharply. "What are you talking about?"

"Tony Stark? Your brother? They're both fair game. Who would you like me to hurt?"

Tears prickled right into Loki's eyes as he felt his world fall away. "You wouldn't. You wouldn't hurt your own goddamn son!"

"Wouldn't I?" Odin asked ominously, his voice finally steady and even.

"Don't you dare touch either of them. I will kill you."

"It's already too late, I guess," Odin said. Loki could hear the smile in his voice. "First thing I'm doing is cutting you off from that school. The next thing I'm doing is… well… I guess that remains to be seen."

"I don't care about fucking school!" Loki cried. "Just don't you dare touch either of them."

"Then you have to do something for me," Odin continued. "Disappear. Forever. This time, I don't want to hear from you again. If you don't, I may just do something drastic."

"Fuck you."

"Is that a no? Well, then you'll see me real soon, Loki." The line went dead.

"Odin!" Loki yelled into the phone. He was sweating, nervous, and his hands were shaking. Fucking Hell. Would Odin really do something to Tony? _To Thor_?

Quickly, Loki redialed Odin's number. He had to convince him somehow that everything would be okay. If Odin would just let him be with Loki, he would never tell a soul about what Odin had done over the years. Loki would put it all behind him.

The phone rang once and went straight to voice mail.

"Fuck," he hissed, throwing the phone onto the floor with a clatter. He hung his head in despair.

* * *

Tony answered his phone, watching Loki worriedly as Loki immediately started yelling at his father. "Tony?" his father said as soon as their call connected.

Looking away from Loki, Tony focused in on a dark space on the wall. "What do you want, old man?"

"What were you thinking, Tony? What did I tell you about dating boys?"

"I do what I want, what can I say, pop?"

"You will fix this immediately! I will not have the company's name ruined because of some silly fling."

Tony ground his teeth together. "This is not a fling, Howard. This is love."

"You are not in love with him. You can't love a boy!"

"I can love whoever the hell I want," Tony said calmly. He wouldn't let his father get to him, not this time.

"I'll cut you off from your inheritance," Howard threatened.

"Don't care."

"I'll take away every service, every bank account you have connected to Stark industries."

"Loki's lasted this long on practically nothing, so I don't fucking care."

There was a pause. "I'll ruin Loki."

"Don't you threaten him. You can do whatever you want to me, but you will not do anything to Loki under any circumstance because guess what, you'll have me to get through." And with that, he hung up.

* * *

Tony finally hung up and Loki looked up at him with bleary eyes, trembling. He was so goddamn worried but not about himself or Tony but about Thor. "My father cut me off, it seems," Tony said, turning to Loki.

"My dad threatened Thor," Loki whispered.

"What?" Tony cried. His eyebrows shot upwards. "He wouldn't actually do that, would he?"

"I don't think so, but I can't help wondering if he might do it; if it's something he could actually do."

"I'm calling Thor." Tony said, activating his phone.

"No, we have to go see him," Loki said urgently. "We have to get out of Massachusetts."

Tony put his phone down slowly, watching Loki with worried eyes. "Why, what's going on, Loks?"

"He threatened your life too. He said if I don't disappear, something could happen to you or Thor and I don't want to be responsible for anything like that. Maybe I should just go because I don't want to… hurt you, you know?" Loki's heart pounded painfully in his chest, causing his tears to slip past his eyes before he could stop them.

"Don't worry, Loks," Tony said with a reassuring smile. "My dad threatened your life too, so if we're going to die, we're going to die together."

Loki laughed painfully through his tears. "At least we have that to look forward to."

"And besides, how seriously could our fathers be? Would they really risk murder?"

"Maybe not," Loki said, trying to wipe the tears away, "but they'll try everything else." Loki didn't mention how he wouldn't rule out Odin's psychotic tendencies.

"Then we'll stand our ground," Tony said, lacing his fingers into Loki's hair. "Because we love each other and I'm not letting you go a second time, you got it? We'll face our parents and the media and the whole god damn world because you and I, Loks? We aren't going to take any shit this time."

"No, we're not," Loki repeated weakly through the last of his tears.

"Now let's get Sprinkles and go see Thor. We might not have money to back us up and we've got the odds against us, but we'll make it, you got it?" Tony told him passionately. "You're not going to go disappearing on me again?"

Loki started crying again and he shook his head. "No, not this time."

Tony wrapped his hands around either sides of Loki's face and pulled him fiercely into a soft, tender kiss. Loki breathed in Tony's scent and couldn't stop crying. He was scared, that's all. He was afraid that now that he was finally with Stark, something would pull them apart.

They pulled out of the kiss but Tony didn't let go. Instead he crushed Loki into a hug and held him close. "I'm so glad I can finally hold you like this again," Tony told him. "I love you so much, Loks."

Loki went still under his embrace with wide eyes. It really hit him, all that had happened and what it all meant. He was finally together with Tony just like he had always hoped and just how Loki never thought it would be. On top of it all, Loki had renewed their relationship by being together with Tony _that way. _

"Oh god," Loki said, covering his eyes.

Tony leaned back to look at him. "What?"

"I put out way too fast," he whispered. His face fired with embarrassment.

Tony laughed. "It takes two people to tango," he reassured Loki. "You know, and I don't really want to admit this but I haven't had… sex since before I met you."

Loki looked up at him with wide eyes. "What, really?"

Tony's face was entirely red now and he wouldn't look at Loki anymore. "I was kinda focused on you and your missing ass for a while…"

"Oh." Not for the first time, a wave of shame washed over Loki.

"What about you, Loks, have you…?" Tony asked shyly.

Loki felt awful but mostly he panicked. He crashed his lips together with Tony's again, effectively shutting Tony up. The kiss was warm and slow but desperate and Tony obviously felt it because he broke it a second later.

"You didn't answer my question, Loks."

Loki looked away and his eyes filled with tears. "I can't, Tony. I can't talk about it."

"Oh," Tony said, his voice sounding strained. "So you did—"

"NO!" Loki cried. "I didn't want him to. He made me because, because—"

"Who made you do what?" Tony growled, his protective, angry face instantly appearing. He wrapped his fingers around Loki's shoulders and Loki began to sob. "Who made you do it?"

"I didn't mean to," Loki forced out. "I had no money and I had to afford the apartment somehow."

Realization dawned on Tony's face and it was not a pretty sight. His anger was beyond anger and Loki found himself a little bit afraid of Tony right at that second. "Tony…?"

Tony let go of Loki and stood slowly. "I'll kill him. It was fucking landlord? I gave that guy fucking money! I knew he gave me the creeps!"

Loki flew to his feet. "Don't, Tony, don't make it worse."

"Worse? How could this possibly get worse, Loki, because from where I'm standing things are looking pretty bleak!"

Loki wiped at his tears. "Let's just go find Thor and we'll deal the rest later, okay? I'm okay now and so are you and we're together. Let's just make sure Thor's okay and then we'll talk about this."

"I'll kill him," Tony repeated, pressing a hand to forehead.

"Please, Tony," Loki begged. "Just let it go."

Tony looked right at him and searched Loki's eyes. Loki stood still under his gaze, trying to halt the flow of tears. "Fine," Tony said, holding out his hand to Loki. "Let's go."

Loki took his hand, squeezing his hand assuredly. "I love you Tony."

At his words, Tony's harsh expression seemed to melt away into a soft, adoring gaze. "I love you too, Loks. No matter what." Tony squeezed back. "Let's go."

Tony opened the door into an empty hallway, looked back at Loki, and began to lead Loki out of the school. He only stopped once to wipe Loki's tears completely away.

* * *

**Self-promo time! I have started another Frostiron story called "Reasons to Smile" and I would appreciate it if you checked it out. Please review if you enjoy it! As for this chapter, sorry that it was shorter than usual! And things should be picking up in the next following chapters.**


	11. Preparations

All the way home, after Tony and Loki had snuck past the waiting paparazzi in the parking lot, Loki seemed unusually calm. He just stared out the window and in turn, Tony stared at him. "Loks, you okay?" he asked at one point.

"I'm fine," Loki replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

_Because your father threatened your brother… Because you were raped by your land lord… Because we are escaping the city in just a few hours…_

It was like Loki had forgotten all of that on the ride home and was just ignoring it for the sake of his own sanity. It wasn't until they reached Tony and Rhodey's apartment that the reason behind Loki's apathy became clear.

"What are we doing again?" Loki asked as soon as Tony opened his apartment door with a sense of urgency.

Loki's question sent Tony to a halt, glancing back at his now boyfriend. "Loki, did you forget?" Tony had actually forgotten about Loki's unstable memory in last 24 hours. He hadn't even dreamed that Loki would forget that they were fleeing the city.

Instantly Loki's face twisted with confusion. "Forgot what?"

Just then, Sprinkles came trotting into the living room while Tony closed the front door. The cat bee-lined for Loki, rubbed up against his leg, and meowed loudly all while Loki stared at it in utter confusion. Loki had even forgotten about Sprinkles. "You got a cat, Tony?" Loki said slowly.

A sense of dread washed over Tony as he watched Loki stoop down and scoop the happy kitten into his waiting arms. What else did Loki forget?

"Oh, you guys are back!" Rhodey said, entering from the hallway and trailing into the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and peered inside.

"Uh, yeah," Tony said, glancing back at Loki, who was currently preoccupied with the cat, and followed Rhodey into the kitchen. "Rhodey, I'm in big trouble."

Rhodey glanced up, holding the carton of milk, and closed the fridge door to give Tony his full attention. "What's up, man?"

"Howard's cutting me off."

"What!" Rhodey practically yelled.

"Shh, shhh," Tony hissed, glancing back at Loki. He could see a pleasantly unaware smile on Loki's face as he played with Sprinkles and he wasn't willing to take that away from him just yet. "Loki forgot all of this on the car ride over," Tony explained.

"Holy shit."

"Holy shit is right," Tony agreed.

"So what are we going to do about rent? I mean, your father was paying for the both of us to live here." Rhodey frowned, discarding the milk onto the counter.

"Don't worry. The apartment's under Dad's name, so if he doesn't pay, the hammer comes down on him. But that's the least of our worries right now." Tony absently watched Loki sit down with Sprinkles to let the cat climb into his lap. "Howard threatened to ruin Loki and Odin threatened to ruin or even hurt me or Thor, so."

"Shit, that's bad," Rhodey hissed. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, Loki wanted to go check up on Thor in New York, but as you can see, Loki has mentally checked out of our situation, so…"

"You have to tell him. Do something to trigger his memory."

"Tony…" Loki's voice interrupted high-pitched and afraid.

Tony and Rhodey both turned to look at Loki. Loki's hand was frozen on the cat and there was a look of shock on Loki's face, as if he just remembered. Oh shit, he'd remembered, hadn't he?

Loki's eyes snapped to his and he worked his jaw, like he was trying to say something, but then realized that Loki was trying to remain calm. "Tony…" Loki breathed out slowly. "Where's my notebook?"

"Your what?"

"My notebook," Loki repeated with a bit of an edge to his voice.

Tony understood immediately and swiftly left the area, down the hallway, and into his bedroom. Inside, his bed was messy and there were clothes all over the floor. Where the hell did Loki put his notebook? He scanned the dresser, then the floor, but came up with nothing until he threw back the covers on the bed and the notebook flopped onto the floor. "There you are," Tony said in victory, snatching the notebook up.

Back in the living room, Loki was petting Sprinkles stiffly with his teeth clenched together. Behind him, Rhodey was standing at the kitchen island, watching uncomfortably as he drank his milk. Tony kneeled down by Loki, offering him the notebook, "Here, Loks." He gently brushed a few strands from Loki's face as Loki took the notebook and starting leafing through it.

The gesture peaked Rhodey's interest. "Wait, are you two…?"

Tony sent him a glare to shut up. At the moment he just needed to know that Loki was going to be okay and not have a sudden melt-down.

Loki flipped pages until he reached the first empty page and sighed. "I didn't write anything down today, did I?"

"No," Tony said. "But I could have Jarvis play back to you everything that happened."

"You have Jarvis record everything we do?" Loki asked sharply, suddenly back to his old self.

Tony gave him a lop-sided grin. "Well he does live in my pocket, my car, and my house. Actually he could be your new notebook, basically, without any of the effort."

Loki was casting him an unforgiving glare. "So you had him record us having sex?"

Rhodey spat out his milk violently. Tony's face heated and he sputtered, "Well, there's only audio for that but—"

"Tony!" Loki scolded, whacking him on the arm. Loki's face had turned a bright pink, just like Tony's face.

"This was waaaay more than I wanted to know," Rhodey said from his perch at the counter.

"Yes, Rhodey, Loki and I had the sex," Tony explained to his friend. "I pinned Loki against a wall in a supply closet and I gave him the best—"

"Whoa! Okay, that's enough!" Rhodey said, abandoning his milk and dumping it into the sink.

Tony laughed before turning back to Loki. "So, Loks. How much do you remember from today?"

"Well," Loki said with a frown. He pressed a hand to the side of his head. "I remember getting Sprinkles, seeing the media at school, the whole… thing in the supply closet, Odin, Howard, and I guess that's it."

"Lucky for you, that's everything," Tony said proudly.

Loki grinned. "I was petting Sprinkles and suddenly it all came back to me. I was about to have a heart attack at the realization. How did I even forget?"

"Well good thing you didn't because I'm not ready to face Odin and Howard on my own," Tony said, tracing a light finger along the edge of Loki's jaw.

"Okay lovebirds, break it up," Rhodey said, coming into their space to stare down at them with his arms crossed. "So what are we going to do about your asshole fathers?"

"We?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yeah," Rhodey shrugged. "This is a whole lot more interesting than reading my Calculus textbook."

"Let's give them Hell," Loki spoke up. God, Tony really, really loved Loki when he got that twinkle in his eyes. There was so much mischief and determination there that Tony was practically ready to agree to anything Loki said.

"Okay, give them Hell, sounds good," Tony said with a grin.

"Good," Rhodey said, getting out his phone. "Then you guys call up your friends. We're getting a gang together. I'll call Pepper and Natasha, Tony you call Clint, Steve and Bucky, and Loki call your brother. We're going to get everyone in on this."

Loki looked absolutely delighted by the prospect and Tony had to agree. It's been a long time since they had everyone together on something like this.

* * *

Pepper showed up with Natasha and a strange boy Tony had never seen before about an hour later. "You don't mind that I brought Bruce, do you? He's got connections and I think it would be important to bring him."

"No, not at all," Tony said, reaching out to shake the guy's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," Bruce said. "I'll try not to get in the way but my father's company is actually Banner Incorporated, a competitor with Stark Industries, so I'm hoping I'll have the resources to help the two of you out."

"And why would that make you want to help us?" Tony asked, dropping the handshake.

Bruce grinned. "My father hopes that you'll come work for us."

"Not a chance," Tony grinned back. "I'm going to take over my father's backward company and make it my bitch."

"Thought so. That's why what I asked Pepper on a date."

"And I said yes," Pepper laughed. "Because I know that Tony here will never get anywhere without our help.

"Road trip!" Natasha yelled from where she'd been ignored for the last few minutes.

The three entered the apartment and Tony instantly switched into a watchful gaze when they started to gather around Loki who was sitting on the couch, still playing with Sprinkles. "Hey Pepper, Natasha, and you're Bruce right?" Loki greeted immediately, which helped Tony breathe easier. "Thanks for helping us."

"Anything for you, Loki," Pepper said fondly, sitting down next to him and throwing an arm around his shoulder. "We've all really missed you."

Loki smiled. "Yeah, it's been quite a while."

"Hey, no flirting with my boyfriend," Tony said loudly from his side of his room.

The girls inhaled sharply. Pepper looked at Tony, "You mean it's true? I mean, your picture with Loki has been all across the internet, but I didn't know that it meant that you two were together!"

"Yeah, Loks and I are inseparable now." Loki blushed in response. "We got a cat together, he practically lives here, and today, Loki and I had the sex."

"Tony, oh my God!" Loki yelled, throwing a decorative pillow at his head.

"Sorry, I'm really excited."

"Well keep it to yourself," Loki said, shaking his head, but he was smiling.

"Anyway," Pepper interrupted. "When are we leaving?"

"Right now," Tony said, turning to Rhodey, who nodded. "We're going to split between my car and Rhodey's, and we'll first pick up Steve, Bucky, and Clint, and then we'll head to New York to pick up Thor and Jane. After that, we'll head off to Illinois, the last place where any of us want to be, I'm sure."

Natasha nodded, making a face. "I wonder if I'll have to visit my parents while I'm there. I didn't want to come back till at least Christmas."

"So what about school, guys?" Pepper reminded. "It is only Monday…"

"Well, Pep," Tony said, "you guys can stay here if you want and go to your classes, but either way, Loki and I have to go." He glanced at Loki.

Loki nodded, seemingly unfazed. "I have to drop out anyway. Odin cut me off."

"Exactly. We're making a life-changing move here. We're going to confront our bastard fathers and kick their sorry asses out of our lives," Tony said passionately.

Pepper looked at the others. "I want to help, what about you guys?"

"A reason to see Clint," Natasha said with a shrug and a smile.

Bruce smiled. "I'm already in."

"And I'm sick of Tony's whining," Rhodey said. "He's been complaining for two years…"

"Okay, grab your coats, kiddies, because we're heading to New York!"

Tony went to Loki and took the cat from him so that Loki could stand up without jostling Sprinkles. He smiled at Loki, who smiled back. "Soon, this mess will be all behind us and it will be just you and me and no one to mess things up for us."

"Looking forward to it," Loki replied with happiness dancing in his eyes.

* * *

**As usual, thank you for reading and reviewing!**


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